Becoming the Lopez Pierce Family
by Drew55
Summary: Future fic told from Santana's perspective past and present. How did she get to this point a wife, kids, happiness? See the highs and lows of what it takes for two people to start a life together.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! I know this is said all the time, but first time writer here who lately has been feeling like I have been squatting at this site. I have only been reading and occasionally writing a few reviews to all the great stories on this site so I felt it was time to try and contribute to this community and write something of my own. Hope you like it. I have a lot of ideas that just sprang to mind while trying to come up with a story so let me know if you want me to continue. Hopefully this will only be the setup to the much bigger story to come. Also any constructive suggestions are certainly welcome I certainly have never claimed to be a writer so I could use all the help I can get. Thanks Enjoy**

**Future fic told manly from Santana's point of view. Including flashbacks.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Glee or its characters. (I think that is what I'm supposed to write)**

Prologue

It was one of those perfect summer days that almost seemed too good to be true. A day that was only supposed to exist in books or possibly one of those fairytales that Brittany loved so much. It was a day that even Santana just couldn't help but smile. The temperature was warm, but not to hot. The sun was bright with the complement of a few passing white fluffy clouds and as Santana stepped out onto the back deck of her beautiful Southern California home she looked around at her house, her family, and couldn't help thinking "What did I ever do to deserve all this"?

Life had not always been this way and if someone had told her back in high school or even college for that matter she would be married with a couple of kids and a house in the suburbs she probably would have gone all kinds of Lima Heights on their ass and threatened to cut them. But life had an amazing way of working out and Santana Lopez Pierce was the beneficiary of that and for that she could only be grateful.

Santana glanced around her deck looking for the lounge chair she liked to sit in, in relaxing moments like this and slowly lowered herself into the nice comfy chair that faced their back yard. She took a drink of her beer that she had brought from the kitchen and scanned the back yard looking for HER. She was the reason Santana had all the wonderful things she had in her life. Without her, Santana could only imagine how different her life would have turned out and that was not a pleasant thought. So she pushed that thought aside and finally her eyes landed on the person she was looking for. Brittany was dressed in shorts and a tank top that were covered in dirt and she was leaning into one of the flower beds that surrounded their home pulling out some weeds that had invaded the flower bed. Brittany must have felt a pair of eyes on her because after a few moments she raised her head to look around and her blue eyes were met with a familiar pair of brown eyes. Santana couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips and the huge smile that suddenly appeared seeing her wife smiling back at her with a little dirt smudged on her face. She was the most adorable thing Santana had ever seen. They smiled at one another for another few seconds before Brittany broke the silence, "What, do I have something on my face…?" Santana chuckled again while responding to Brittany's cuteness "yes actually you do and you look absolutely adorable by the way, you should leave it." Brittany giggled back at her wife's response while trying to whip the dirt off only actually succeeding in applying more dirt to her face. Brittany slowly went back to her work on the flower bed while Santana enjoyed her beer and the brief moment of relaxation that she had found in her otherwise hectic life.

She knew the kids would be up soon from their naps. Brittany and Santana had taken them to the park to feed the ducks and to burn off a little energy before returning home for their naps. Santana wanted to take advantage of the rare peace and quiet. She knew she was lucky today, her son Anthony rarely took naps anymore, but not for a lack of trying on Santana's part. It was a daily battle of wills that Anthony normally won when Santana or Brittany tried to get him to take a nap. He was 4 now; going on 14 Santana thought to herself and he could be extremely strong willed when he wanted to be which Santana knew was her doing somehow, but he was the mirror image of Brittany. He had short blonde hair that in the summer almost looked neon in color and beautiful blue eyes just like his mom and his sister. Santana thought he really must have worn himself out on the playground today to actually take a nap. Emily on the other hand was still developing her personality and for the most part was a perfectly calm baby which Santana and Brittany counted their blessings everyday that at least they had lucked out with an easy baby this time around. She was only 7 months old, but she had both Santana and Brittany wrapped around her little finger from the very beginning due to her extreme cuteness. Santana didn't wanted to have another baby after what had happened with Anthony and the way he came into this world, but Brittany didn't give up, she wanted another child and Santana being Santana could never say no to Brittany for very long. And now that they had Emily she was glad Brittany hadn't given up her constant pressuring to have another child because now Santana couldn't imagine life without the adorable baby girl. So Santana just sat back in her chair, enjoying the suns warmth on her body, slowly sipping her beer, occasionally glancing over to her beautiful wife and thanking God for her amazing life while thinking back on all the events, the good times and the struggles that had got her to this point.


	2. Anthony strikes again

**AN: Wow everyone thanks for all the alerts and favorites I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying writing this story and the alerts and reviews are certainly helping. Not really sure how long the story is going to be but I do have the next couple chapters already written so at the very least it will be a few more.**

**Here's where we start to really get to know this family and particularly that little trouble maker Anthony. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- Don't own anything except Anthony and Emily they are all mine**

Anthony strikes again

Santana was enjoying her peaceful moment on the lounge chair. She had even gone back into the kitchen about 10 minutes ago to get another beer, but mainly she was enjoying the view. Brittany was still working in the garden pulling weeds and every time she would spot another unwanted weed she would slowly bend over thus giving Santana the perfect view of Brittany's perfectly toned legs and butt that were only slightly covered by her extremely short shorts. Santana knew she was doing this on purpose just to tease her. Brittany definitely didn't need to bend quite like that, and on top of the bending, occasionally Brittany would look over her shoulder right at the Latina and give her the most seductive look. It was taking a great deal of control to not run over to her wife right now and rip her clothes off right then and there. And on top of her internal struggle she was getting a kink in her neck. The angle was almost painful but well worth it to have this view of her wife. Damn the neighbors Santana thought, they were also in their back yard working thus preventing Santana from acting on her desire to sex up her wife! She never liked them much and her current situation only heightens her negative feelings towards her neighbors. Maybe we should get a fence Santana thought to herself while picturing what she wanted to do to her wife right at that moment. Who knew gardening could be such a turn on thought the Latina, I really need to be better prepared should Brittany want to do more gardening in the future. So Santana made the mental note to look into pricing of fencing and maybe an outdoor stereo system. Britt did get kind of loud from time to time and the stereo might come in handy as well.

Santana was shook from her peaceful albeit sexually frustrated moment on her lounge chair when she heard a loud crash coming from inside the house. She bolted straight up from the chair spilling her beer in the process and sprinted into the house to find out what could have possibly made such a horrific crashing noise. Brittany seeing her wife's less than graceful and abrupt exit back into the house quickly got up from what she was doing and rushed into the house as well tracking dirt everywhere in her hast to find out what was wrong with her wife.

Upon entering the kitchen Santana quickly found the culprit. Partially relieved and partially pissed off Santana had come face to face with her son who was covered head to toe in flour looking a little guilty, but manly he just had this surly look on his face. The same look he always had when he knew he was doing something he shouldn't, but deciding to do it anyway. There was broken glass everywhere so Santana quickly scooped up her son just as Brittany came running into the kitchen.

Brittany looked upon her kitchen which was covered in what seemed to be and endless amount of flour and back to her wife who was currently holding their son who was equally covered in flour with a confused look on her face. "What in the world happened?"

"Maybe you should ask your son." Santana said while looking at her son and giving him her trademark you are in big trouble look. A scowl she had perfected many years ago while intimidating her classmates at McKinley High.

Santana had a pretty good idea what had happened, but she wanted to hear what the little boy's excuse was. Anthony must have woken up early and snuck down to the kitchen in the hopes of finding his favorite cookies. The shelf was out of his reach just above the shelf with the flour jar. He had pushed one of the chairs from the kitchen table up to the counter in the hopes of reaching just a little bit higher. Only to realize he was still just a little too short to reach the cookies. Anthony kept trying and finally slipped grabbing the flour jar on the way down breaking it and sending flour everywhere. Or something along those lines Santana thought.

Anthony's excuse was way more colorful than the truth come to find out. Anthony began with a slight whimper and a trembling lower lip and Santana internally thought, my God my son is a genius, I'm so proud of him that was until he started talking. As the story became more and more ridiculous to anyone older than 5 Santana just cut him off. "So what your saying is… you saw a dinosaur outside the kitchen window… you didn't want him to see you… that's when you remembered your friend Kyle saying dinosaurs can't see anything white… so you decided that the white flour would hide you from being seen by the dinosaur… and because you were scared and rushing you accidentally broke the flour jar sending the flour everywhere… and that's when mommy and I came in? Does that about cover it?" The boy nodded without saying another word. "Are you sure you're telling the truth?" She emphasized and the boy nodded in agreement again.

Santana was still looking very sternly at their son when Brittany chimed in "It's alright buddy I'm scared of dinosaurs too and your right they can't see anything white, but I didn't see any dinosaurs in the back yard and I was out there so are you sure that's what you saw?"

Santana just stood in stunned silence for a moment before she bent down in front of her son so she was looking eye to eye with the boy and began reading him the riot act. She began with how he could have been hurt. Continue with the importance of telling the truth and lastly finished with the fact that he is never allowed to sneak out of his bedroom without mommy or mami knowing where he is. She was actually getting quiet good at remaining calm in these situations while still making sure she was getting her point across. I guess practice makes perfect she thought and Anthony has certainly given her a lot of practice lately.

Santana was extremely relieve the boy wasn't hurt by the fall or the broken glass, but looking around the kitchen she wanted to kill that kid right now. "What a mess" she heard coming from the doorway to the kitchen. Not even looking to see who was standing in her kitchen she replyed "well are you just gonna stand there perving on me or are you gonna help me clean this mess up" knowing it was Puck who now was standing in her kitchen. Puck laughed in response while walking over to retrieve the broom from the closet. "So Anthony struck again?"

"Yup" was the only response he got.

XXXXXXXXXX

The kitchen was finally cleaned up. So Puck and Santana headed into the den to catch up before dinner. All the while Brittany was still upstairs with the kids after getting Anthony cleaned up and trying to feed Emily while still keeping and eye on Anthony who was sulking on his bed because he was in time out due to his dinosaur lie.

Dinner came and went and Anthony was back to his normal rambunctious self especially because he had Puck there egging him on the entire time. Anthony loved Puck and Puck loved Anthony so the ladies let them play a little longer hoping Puck would tire Anthony out and the two women could have a nice relaxing night when the kids were sound asleep. While the boys wrestled on the floor the 3 girls snuggled together on the sofa. Brittany sat with her back against the arm of the sofa with Santana lying against her as she gently massaged the Latina's shoulders. All the while Santana was making faces at Emily who was giggling on Santana's chest at every new face the Latina made.

After what seem like an eternity the boys were still going strong. They played a few games and continued their wrestling matches while the ladies were quickly fading on the sofa as sleep was trying to take over there bodies. Santana decided enough was enough "Puck don't you have a date tonight with that hot red head from the bar the other night?"

"No, tomorrow night why?"

"Because its getting late, my wife is falling asleep and I would like to get my mack on, so that means its time for you to go home."

"Wow Lopez, I can take a hint you don't have to use a sledgehammer" Puck responded while Santana was trying to shove Puck out the door. Puck stopped the Latina's progress when she noticed the look of disappointment on her best friends face. "Can't I say goodbye to my favorite girl at least?"

"Aw Puck I'm sorry… you need a hug before you leave" she responded somewhat sarcastically as she was stretching her arms out to meet Puck.

Puck wrinkled his nose and frowned "Not you… My real favorite girl"

Santana rolled her eyes while letting out a slight huff as Puck walked over to Brittany who was now holding Emily. Puck bent down and kissed Brittany on the cheek and Emily on the top of her head while whispering to Emily "You'll always be my real favorite girl not that crazy mother of yours." After he was done make eyes at the giggling baby Santana grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the door, emphasizing a bite more harshly than intended "Goodbye Puck" as he stumbled out the doorway with a little extra help from Santana.

"Later bitches"

XXXXXXXXXX

It was after 11:00 when Santana finally crawled into bed with her now sleeping wife. "Fuck" thought the Latina when she noticed that her wife was out cold. She thought about waking her up since she was still a little flustered from Brittany's gardening show from earlier, but quickly decided against it when she saw how peaceful her wife looked. Brittany was a cute sleeper; she always had a slight smile on her face when she slept. So Santana decided that sleep sounded pretty good and gently snuggled in close behind her wife while carefully pulling the sleeping blonde towards her so their bodies were flush against one another. Completely content, Santana allowed sleep to over take her as well.

**AN: Well there it is a little Brittania family fluff. Next chapter we find out what happened during Anthony's birth. It's pretty good if I do say so myself **

**What do you guys/gals think? I went back and forth with who should be Santana's best friend and Puck narrowly beat out Quinn. I hope I made the right choice.**

**Take care!**


	3. Fear

**AN: Well I was going to hold off a couple days to post this but I couldn't wait. So here is the next installment. This chapter is much longer than the last two and probably the next few will be about the same. **

**O and what's up only 3 reviews but well over a 100 alerts and favorites that's pitiful. Help a brother out! I'm not too proud to beg!**

**Hope you enjoy**

**Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1 and 2**

Fear

Santana was awoken from her restless night and was jolted back to consciousness. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she had a slight sheen of sweat covering her entire body. Trying to gain her barring and catch her breath she looked around the room and slowly realized she was still in her bed with her wife sleeping soundly by her side. She took a deep breath trying to steady her nerves and glanced at the clock, it was 2:30. Finally realizing what she had just put herself though was only a bad dream she slowly started to calm down. She took a few more deep breaths before carefully getting out of bed hoping she didn't wake Brittany in the process and walked into the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face.

While she was in the bathroom she slowly started to piece together parts of her dream. She knew the dream had involved Anthony and she also knew she was trying to protect him from something… what she couldn't remember, but she knew in her dream he was lost. Getting a little frustrated at not being able to remember the entire dream she decided it couldn't hurt to just go down and check on Anthony. It was silly, she knew he would just be asleep in his room, but it couldn't hurt to see that he was okay. Her last thought before slowly opening Anthony's bedroom door was I think there may have been a dinosaur in my dream. Shaking her head at the craziness of the thought that she might have been protecting her son from a dinosaur she enter his bedroom quietly.

Upon entering the little boy's room she quickly saw the little body of her sleeping son curled into a tight ball hugging his favorite stuffed duck. She audibly sighed at the realization that her son was fine, tucked safely in his bed. She stared for a few moments at her son before sitting down facing him in the chair across the room. Finally able to relax she thought about all the joy her children had brought to her life and all the fear as well.

The fear had started from day one with Anthony and if she was completely honest it had started from the day she had found out Brittany was pregnant, but the day Anthony came into this world was easily the scariest moment of Santana's life.

_**Flashback**__- November 2022_

_Brittany was eight months pregnant and the pregnancy had not been an easy one for Brittany and by extension Santana as well. Brittany had been sick for the entire first trimester and the second had only improved slightly. Lately Brittany had been surprisingly feeling pretty good. So when they received the offer from Brittany's parents offering them their time share so they could get a last bit of alone time together before the baby came without any outside distractions they decided to take them up on it_

_Santana was apprehensive at first. I mean Brittany was eight months pregnant after all, but they had just been to the doctor and the doctor had assured them that everything was fine and running perfectly on schedule. So maybe a week away wasn't such a bad idea. She could work on her tan after all._

_At least that was the plan until Santana found out where the time share was. "The mountains Britt…It's cold there and I'm a warm weather girl. You know what happens to me when the temperature drops below 70 degrees." The Latina whined_

"_O come on you wuss it will be great. We can curl up together next to the fire. Keep each other warm at night. It will be great and it's probably the last bit of peace and quiet we will get before the baby comes. PLEASE?" Brittany begged_

"_Alright" Santana huffed in defeat. God she really needed to learn to say no to this girl._

"_But…" Santana questioned "what if we get stuck in the snow?"_

"_That will never happen!" As if it was the most absurd thing ever "Besides if we do I'll protect you" Brittany responded with a smile_

"_Okay, you win we can go, but only for the weekend"_

"_Yes! Thank you, you're the best wife ever" Brittany practically screamed while throwing herself at the Latina and attacking her with her lips. Hands began roaming over each others bodies searching for any contact they could find. The feeling of Brittany's hands grabbing and caressing her sides was sending chills down Santana's body. The kiss was gradually becoming more and more intense and Santana could feel her body responding to Brittany's every touch when the blonde pulled away._

"_To be continued" the blonde announced_

_Santana stood in stunned silence for a moment missing the contact with her wife immediately._

"_We should get packed if we want to make it to the house before nightfall." _

_Santana reluctantly had to agree even though she would like nothing more than to finish what they had started. Brittany was right! If they wanted to be there before it got dark they needed to get a move on. Especially because the only thing worse than cold weather was the effects the cold weather had… namely snow. And the last thing Santana wanted to be doing was driving in the snow in the dark with her very pregnant wife._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_They made it to the house thankfully before dark. The house was nice, a little too secluded for Santana's liking, but still nice. Brittany was suffering by the time they got to the house after being stuck in the SUV for the past 3 hours. So Santana wanted to help her into the house before planning on returning and getting their things. Just as they were stepping out of the car Brittany notice the first snow flakes starting to fall. "Look Santana it's snowing" Brittany stated with an air of excitement. Santana couldn't help but smile at the blonde's enthusiasm even though she definitely did not share her excitement._

"_Let's get you inside where it's warm and you can get comfortable then we can look at the snow all you want, okay?" Santana stated with a smile while usher her wife into the house._

_After Brittany was comfortably inside the house sitting in front of the big front window propped up on the sofa Santana returned to the car for their things. At this point it was snowing much harder then when they arrived. "Great" the Latina groaned "Just great" Santana grabbed their belongings as quickly as possible and hurried back in the house._

_Santana enter the house covered in a dusting of snow even though she had only been outside for a few minutes to see Brittany pulling out some firewood to start a fire. "What do you think you're doing?" Santana stated while dropping the bags with a thud "You shouldn't be lifting anything heavy, here let me do that, you just relax" Santana said while taking the firewood from Brittany and trying to construct a fire._

_Once the fire finally seemed to have caught Santana turned to her wife who had made her way back towards the sofa and walked towards the pouting blonde "I'm sorry babe I know you hate me fussing over you all the time, but I just want to make sure you and the baby are okay. I love you both so much and couldn't stand if anything happened to either one of you."_

"_I know" Brittany sighed "It's just… I wish I could do more. It's frustrating to not be able to do simple things for myself… or for you." said the pouting blonde_

_Santana reached over and took the blondes hands "Babe, this will all be over soon and then you can go back to carrying all the firewood you want" Santana said while leaned in to press a light kiss to Brittany's lips._

"_I love you, you know that right"? Brittany stated _

"_Of coarse, but you know I love you more" Santana countered_

"_Not possible"_

_Deciding a compromise would be best because they could go back and forth all day like this the Latina stated "Okay how bout we call it a tie." _

_Santana leaned in again to kiss her wife. This kiss lasted a little longer and definitely had an underlying feeling of what was to come for the two women later. Santana reluctantly pulled back and walked over to their over night bags and stated "I'll be right back… let me just go put these in the bedroom and then we can really get comfortable" she said with a wink. Brittany giggled "You promise?" as she watched her wife walk out of the room towards the bedroom with their bags._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_The ladies finished dinner and were camped out on the sofa cuddled together watching it snow. Santana had to admit it did look peaceful. Although… since the first flakes fell about 4 hours ago it sure looked like there was about a foot of snow on the ground and it was still coming down just as hard. "Britt did you know it was going to snow like this?"_

"_The weather man said it was going to snow, but I didn't believe him." She said innocently "You always say they're never right." Great thought the Latina of all times for her to listen to me _

"_Did they say how much?"_

"_I think he said three" Brittany answered_

"_Three! As in three feet? Britt we are gonna be stuck here for days with three feet of snow" Santana stated almost a little angry that her pregnant wife of eight months had dragged her here to buried in snow. _

"_That's okay I like it here… I wouldn't mind getting stuck here with you" Brittany responded as if it was the best idea ever._

"_Britt we are hours away from a hospital, it snowing like the world is going to end and you just happen to be really, really, really pregnant. Pardon me while I freak out!"_

"_Everything is gonna be fine" She responded trying to reassure her wife "it's not like I'm gonna go into labor or anything." _

_Well famous last words because the universe had other ideas. The words barely out of Brittany's mouth when all the sudden her mouth fell open in a look of shock and awe and she stated simply "Babe I think my water just broke…"_

"_WHAT? The Latina practically screamed as she jumped off the couch "You're joking right?"_

"_Not unless I just peed myself I'm not"_

"_O my God Britt this can't be happening." Santana stated as panic was starting to set in "We have to get you to the hospital!" _

_The Latina started running around grabbing everything in sight. Things that didn't even belong to them were thrown back in their bags._

"_Are you okay Britt, can I get you anything?" Santana asked nervously while throwing the tv remote into her bag_

"_I'm okay, but can you stop running in circles you are starting to make me dizzy" the blonde responded calmly_

"_How are you so calm?"_

"_I don't know… I just Am." stated the blonde_

"_Britt, there's feet of snow outside, we are really far away from a hospital and you just went into labor… This pretty much equals freak out in my book." Santana stated on the verge of panic_

"_Okay this is what is going to happen…" Brittany stated while reaching out and taking Santana's trembling hands "You are going to go outside… shovel out the car while I get the rest of our stuff together and put back all the things you just grabbed that don't belong to us…, this way we can leave and go to the hospital as soon as you're done… GOT IT?" Brittany stated commandingly as if it was obvious_

_Santana just stared at her wife in awe. "You are amazing! Here you are in labor and you're the one with the clear head"_

"_Yup that's me Brittany The Amazing! Hey do you think we can…" the rest of Brittany's statement died on her lips because just then a contraction racked through Brittany's body and Santana stumble to help Brittany to the floor to ride it out._

"_Just breathe babe, just breath" Santana repeated as Brittany held onto Santana's hand for dear life. Santana would have felt the pain from Brittany's death grip on her hand had she not been so preoccupied with how scared she was at this precise moment. _

_The contraction finally died down and Brittany loosened her grip on Santana's hand "How are you feeling?" Santana asked hesitantly_

"_Okay I guess"_

_Santana released Brittany's hand and walked to the window. Upon seeing the scene outside Santana felt all her blood drain and her hands flew up to her face "Britt I don't think we can make it out of here… there is really a lot of snow out there" _

_Brittany looked at her wife who looked defeated. She had never seen Santana look so lost, Santana wasn't freaking out, she wasn't cussing in Spanish, she wasn't anything, she just stood there looking out the window with her hands on her head. Now this scared Brittany she had never seen her wife at a complete loss and for a few minutes neither woman knew what to do or say._

"_I got it… we'll just call 911 they'll send an ambulance for us" Santana said as she ran to go get her cell phone. Santana picked up her phone and dialed the number only to realize that she had no service. _

"_NO, NO, NO, NO, NO…" She ran and picked up the blondes phone and held it to her ear only to discover the alarming truth it also had no service. They were stuck and not only that they had no one they could call to help them through this, not Santana's dad, not the 911 operator, no one._

_Santana fell to the floor as tears started to fall. "We're stuck…"_

_After a moments hesitation Brittany rolled to her side and practically crawled to her wife who was crumpled on the floor. "San…" she said while reaching up to cup Santana's face that was streaked with tears in her hands "We are gonna get through this" she stated with one hundred percent conviction._

"_Brittany I can't deliver our baby, I'm not a doctor, this is way over my head" she responded weakly as the tears still continued to fall. "I barely paid attention in health class"_

_There was silence for a moment and all that could be heard was the howling of the wind and the whipping of the snow when a light bulb went on for Brittany "Santana do you remember what I told you after Kurt won prom queen?" _

"_Great Britt… kick a girl when she's down"_

"_NO seriously… I told you to embrace your awesomeness and that I believed in you. Well I still do… more than anyone. So I'm okay with this… I trust you and believe that you can do anything, including delivering our baby. Why would I want a doctor I barely know delivering our baby when I could have the person I trust most in this world do it?" Brittany stated with complete sincerity_

"_Maybe because they know what the hell there doing" Santana said as if it was obvious and probably a little too harshly_

"_You can do this Santana… I believe in you"_

_The Latina sat pondering Brittany's words while slowly running her fingers through her own hair. "You really think I can do this?"_

"_Without a doubt"_

_Santana leaned over and pressed the lightest of kisses to Brittany's lips "Okay" she responded weakly "let's have a baby" as a small smile finally started to rise on the Latina's face _

_And with that the wheels started turning in Santana's head. What does someone need to deliver a baby? She thought back to movies and television because that was the only experience she had with this sort of thing. In the movies they always asked for warm water and clean towels… Okay that's a start she thought. Just then another contraction struck. Santana was at Brittany's side in an instant._

_They road out the contraction with Santana gently encouraging Brittany to breath and telling her how great she was doing. When the contraction was finally over she wiped the sweat from Brittany's forehead and kissed her cheek. "You're doing great babe…" she said reassuring the blonde "I'll be right back I have to wash my hands and get some supplies. Are you gonna be okay for a minute?"_

"_I think so" Brittany responded somewhat unsure_

"_I love you so much babe and remember you said we are gonna get through this… and I have never known you to lie, so it must be true right?" Santana stated as confidently as she could_

"_I guess so"_

"_Well I know so, and I'm always right" the Latina stated with a wink and a smile towards Brittany as she turned and walked to the kitchen to find what she needed._

_Santana returned a few minutes later to find Brittany was still on the floor where she left her, she dropped what she had found, some towels, a sheet, some hot water and a few pillows. "Here Britt… lets get you comfortable." Santana laid out the sheet and helped Brittany on top of it while placing the pillows gently behind Brittany's back._

"_Are you comfortable?" the Latina questioned with pleading eyes_

"_As comfortable as I can be I guess"_

_Santana kissed her again lightly and then resumed getting everything in order. She silently wondered what the hot water was for, but pushed the thought aside for now._

"_Okay this is what is gonna happen… when the next contraction hits we're going to time it to see how far apart your contractions are… I think I remember that lady at the child birth class saying below 2 minutes is when you should start pushing."_

"_Okay" Brittany responded somewhat nervously_

"_Hey… don't be nervous I'm not gonna let anything happen to you or the baby… okay?" the Latina stated more to convince herself than anyone._

"_I know, I trust you completely"_

_Just then the contraction hit. It was the strongest yet. It was hard watching Brittany suffer like this, she hated to see her wife in pain, but she dug deep to suppressed those feelings, she had to be strong for Brittany. The blonde was panting, breathing heavy and sweating but as far as Santana could tell everything appeared normal._

_The contraction was over and both Brittany and Santana took deep breaths._

"_Britt I'm gonna take off your underwear to see how far along we are." Not that she would really know, but it sounded good. She took one more deep breath; she was nervous as to what she would find once she removed Brittany's panties, but she steadied herself and lopped her fingers around the waistband and gently with a little help from Brittany pulled them down and off her legs. She lifted Brittany's night gown and slowly peaked under._

"_Whoa" the word was out before she could pull it back._

"_What… what is it… what's wrong?" Brittany asked as panic was starting to rise_

"_Nothing… Everything is fine" She responded trying to reassure the blonde and herself _

"_I just wasn't expecting that…" she said shaking her head "your vagina looks huge" Santana stated still shocked at what she just saw_

"_I think we are further along than I thought… I think I saw the head." Santana said while trying to regain her composure and hesitantly peaking under the blonde's nightgown again. "Yup that is definitely the head" O my God Santana thought to herself, this is really happening; I really have to do this. She took one more deep breath and continued "So I think when the next contraction hits you should probably push. Are you ready for that?"_

"_No, but I guess I'm gonna have to be" Brittany responded weakly_

_Just then it hit "O my God" Brittany screamed "This hurts so bad" she cried out again_

"_Push baby" Santana practically grunted _

"_Keep pushing the heads almost out…" _

_O my God this is incredible thought Santana for the briefest of moments before focusing back on what she needed to do to help her wife._

_The head was out now and Brittany looked exhausted. "Babe come on… you can do this… one more big push" stated the Latina_

_Brittany dug in and with one last push the shoulders slid through and Santana guided the baby the rest of the way out._

"_O my God Britt you did it… it's a boy" Santana stated with the biggest smile and a huge expression of relief etched on her face while a few tears fell from her eyes._

_Santana grabbed one of the towels to gently clean him up and then wrapped the crying baby tightly before handing the crying boy to Brittany_

"_You did a great job mom" stated the Latina while place a delicate kiss to the blondes lips_

"_So did you mami" responded the blonde as she looked adoringly at the brunette _

_They held each other for a few minutes trying to comfort the crying baby while whispering I love you's back and forth. Santana could hardly believe what the two had accomplished together. She knew that if they could get through this together they could accomplish anything._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

Just then Santana was jostled from her memory to find her beautiful wife leaning against the doorframe looking at her in awe.

Santana stood up, walked over to her sleeping son and whispered "I love you… sleep tight little man… I'll always be here to protect you" while giving him a peck on the forehead

Santana walked to the door and gently passed Brittany as the blonde took one last look at her sleeping son and quietly shut the door behind them.

"You okay?" questioned the blonde

"Never been better" responded the Latina "I have an amazingly beautiful wife and two perfect children… life just doesn't get any better than this."

"Well why don't I get you back to bed and show you how much better life can get…" Brittany stated while grabbing her wife's hand and dragging her back to the bedroom.

It was true; life certainly didn't get any better than this thought the Latina as she shut the bedroom door.

**AN: This chapter was the main reason I decided to write this story so I hope I did it justice.**

**Seeing as though I have never had a baby nor will I ever since I am missing the fundamental parts to do so I'm not sure how I did with the delivery part. So if I'm missing things or got information wrong I apologize. **

**Hope you liked it. Please let me know how I'm doing I'm self-conscious since this is my first effort into the world of writing. Please review!**


	4. From the Beginning

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews and alerts they really are helpful in encouraging me to keep writing this story. I'm really happy with the response the last chapter got, it was a lot of fun to write so I hope this chapter can live up to the last.**

**Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the mistakes.**

From the Beginning

Santana was sleeping peacefully when all the sudden "UGGG" all the air was pushed from her lungs and she felt a crushing weight land on her chest. She quickly opened her eyes to investigate what had hit her only to discover a warm pair of crystal blue eyes staring back at her intensely.

She picked the little boy up and off her chest so she could take a breath and placed him between her and Brittany on the bed. "Wow buddy you're really getting heavy… I thought I got hit by a truck" she said while struggling to take a deep breath.

The boy laughed at his mother's statement obviously not taking note of her extreme discomfort.

"You're up early little man?" Santana said while trying to wipe the sleep out of her eyes and still have some difficulty breathing.

Brittany totally oblivious to what had just transpired finally started to stretch and slowly opened her eyes to find an extra body in her bed. "Good morning" she said with a yawn

"Mornin mommy" responded Anthony "What's for breakfast?"

"Yeah mommy what's for breakfast?" Santana questioned faking excitement and knowing Brittany had no clue since she had just woken up.

"Breakfast?" she said while yawning again "what time is it?"

"It's time to get up" Anthony excitedly responded while bouncing on the bed

"Okay…" Brittany said while sluggishly rolling over to face her wife and son "Anthony why don't you go downstairs and watch some cartoons while I get breakfast ready; how's pancakes sound?"

"I looove pancakes" the boy responded practically jumping with excitement

As he quickly climbed out of the bed on his way out the door his knee accidentally slammed Santana in the ribs and she was once again left breathless from the impact.

Coughing and gasping for air she struggled to take a breath

Brittany thinking this was hilarious giggled at her wife's misfortune.

"O… you think that's funny…let's see how you like it" she said while playfully slapping Brittany's stomach

Brittany finally stopped laughing long enough to ask her wife if she was okay

"Yeah… as long as I don't need to breath I'll be fine" the Latina exaggerated

Brittany leaned in and gave Santana a short kiss.

"Britt… that is probably not going to help me catch my breath" the brunette responded with a sly sexy smirk

Brittany smiled and finally made the move to get out of bed. She grabbed a sweatshirt to ward of the morning chill before slowly walking back to the bed to give Santana another quick kiss

"You coming down for breakfast?" the blonde questioned with a smile

"I'll be down in a few, I want to take a shower first" Santana said while slowly rolling out of bed "remember I have that meeting with Fox entertainment today"

"O yeah I forgot" Brittany said still obviously trying to shake the cob webs out from being asleep "That's for that reality show that is auditioning cheerleaders for USC, right?"

"Yeah, USC had to remove the entire cheerleading squad due to NCAA violations… and you want to know the ironic part?" Santana stated "Coach Sylvester was their coach at the time"

"No way…" Brittany responded in shock "I didn't even know she left McKinley"

"Apparently a couple years after we graduated she got the job as USC cheerleading coach… and while she was there she was demanding that the cheerleaders get free tanning and hair appointments from some salon when the NCAA found out and fired her ass and caned the entire team"

"Why am I not surprised" the blonde stated while turning to walk down stairs

While Santana was in the shower Brittany was making breakfast and feeding Emily who had just woken up as well

Santana exited the bathroom wrapped in a soft towel and began looking for her one and only suit so she looked the part of a professional business woman for her meeting today.

She had pretty much finished getting ready and was almost ready to head down stairs and join her family for breakfast when she realized that the shoes she wanted to wear were no where to be found. She looked in all the normal spots, the shoe rack, the base of the bed, in the closet and she was still coming up empty.

Maybe Brittany accidently put them in her closet she thought. Brittany's closet was no where near as organized as Santana's. There were cloth thrown everywhere, boxes on the floor and hangers dangling cock eyed. Santana almost didn't know where to start. She decided to look in some of the shoe boxes that were littered on the floor. She looked in the first couple she saw with no luck. She was just about to give up and call down to Brittany to ask her if she had seen her black Gucci pumps when she spotted one last shoebox in the back of the closet. She pulled it out and opened the lid. Upon looking inside she quickly realized that there were no shoes in this box. Scattered haphazardly in this box were a bunch of notes, there must have been hundreds of notes Santana thought. Santana looked at the notes and quickly realized they were notes that Santana herself had written Brittany and they spanned the entire time the two had known each other.

Santana slowly piece through a couple of the notes, some had been short and written on post it's or index cards and some where multiple pages long with lengthy dialog. Santana had got into the habit early on in their friendship of writing Brittany a note before she would leave on vacation or a trip and hiding it in Brittany's suitcase for her to find and read while she was away just to let the blonde know she was thinking about her.

As she looked through the notes some of the more memorable letters had stood out like the letter she wrote to Brittany the first time she went on Tour or the time when Brittany went to live with her grandmother for a couple weeks when her grandmother was battling cancer.

Santana smiled as she carefully pieced through the letters that she had spent countless hours writing just to make sure the blonde knew exactly how much she was going to be missed while she was away.

Santana had no idea Brittany had kept these notes all these years. How did she hide these from her she thought? Just then her eyes landed upon a very special note. It was the very first note she had written Brittany. Santana's mouth fell open in amazement "My God…" Santana said to herself while huddled in the back of Brittany's closet "She kept this all this time?"

The Latina picked up the much worn piece of paper and couldn't help the smile from rising as she took in the words that were scribbled in crayon on the tiny piece of paper. Der Brittany I'm gunna mis you. Please dont forget me this sumer! Luv Santana

And under the written words were two stick figures and they were holding hands. One stick figure had long yellow hair the other long black hair and above the little drawing was a big heart that was colored in pink crayon mostly within the lines.

Santana could feel the tears starting to build behind her eyes as the memory of that day came rushing back.

_**Flashback-**__ June 1999_

_Santana and Brittany had met on the first day of school shortly after their parents had dropped them off for the first day of Kindergarten. They were put in the same class and happened to be assigned the seats next to one another in that class. It wasn't long before the two girls were inseparable. They would race off the school bus every morning just to have that extra little bit of time with each other. They would huddle together while they did their school work and help each other with arts and crafts all the while ignoring the other kids in class as if they were the only two girls in the world. And everyday as they were packing up their school bags before they left they would give each other a tight hug and hold onto each other for dear life, neither wanting to be the first to let go almost as if they were afraid they would never see each other again. This routine lasted the entire school year._

_With about four days left before school let out for summer vacation Santana had run off the school bus just like normal. She was expecting to find the blonde already in the classroom waiting for her. Santana eagerly looked around the classroom before she even took the time to set her book bag down in search of the blonde. Normally Brittany would have been sitting at her desk eagerly awaiting her best friend's arrival, but not today. Upon realizing her friend had not arrived yet Santana spirits fell; I'm never the first to arrive she thought. Slowly and with her shoulders slumped in disappointment she made her way to her desk and anxiously awaited her friend's arrival._

_About ten minutes later the little blonde finally walked in. Santana's eyes had been glued to the doorway every since she had taken her seat. She didn't know what to do without the blonde. A couple other kids had come up to her to ask if she wanted to play with them but she had turned them down only saying that she was waiting for Brittany. Once Brittany walked through the door carrying her Disney princess back pack Santana immediately perked up. Santana was practically bouncing in her seat by the time the blonde made her way over to where their desks were located._

_Brittany slowly lowered herself in her chair as Santana took in the blonde's unusually somber mood. "What's wrong Britt Britt?" Santana said_

"_Nothing…" Brittany responded weakly_

_Santana looked at the blonde for a few more minutes trying to gage whether or not that was a true statement and after staring at the blonde a little longer she decided that Brittany was lying so she decided to push further to get to the bottom of the blondes usually bad mood. _"_It's okay Britt… you can tell me anything… we're best friends after all… What is it?"_ _Santana asked with concern_

_The blonde let out a deep breath while still keeping her eyes on the picture she was coloring. "I'm sad…" Brittany stated as if she was about to cry_

_Santana's expression appeared confused. What could Brittany possibly be sad about Santana thought?_

"_Why are you sad Britt?" she asked_

"_My mom drove me to school today and that's why we were late. She told me we're going to spend the summer at my grandparent's house in Michigan" Brittany replied as her eyes started pool with tears._

_Santana reached over and hugged her best friend and as she released Brittany from the hug she said "If it will make you feel better you can have some of my pudding at lunch" Santana offered to raise the blonde's spirits_

_Brittany still continued to stare at her coloring with little reaction. Pudding always made Brittany feel better Santana thought? _

_Deciding this must be serious she began thinking of another tactic "Brittany Michigan's fun…" Santana whispered to her friend trying all she could think of to push away the blonde's sadness "you get to go swimming at the lake and catch lightning bugs at night why are you sad about that?"_

"_Because I won't get to see you in Michigan" the blonde stated honestly as a few tears started to fall_

_Santana hadn't considered that fact… She wouldn't get to see her best friend all summer if Brittany was in Michigan._

_Santana began to shake as her own emotions threatened to spill over. _

_Just then the small Latina got an idea "You can hide in my room… your mom and dad will never find you there… this way we will get to spend the whole summer together" Santana was practically bursting with pride at her brilliant plan. This is the best plan ever she thought._

"_But my parents will worry about me if they don't know where I am" Brittany responded while still appearing to be very upset_

_Santana thought about this for a minute while trying to come up with a way around their problem. "Britt what if…" the blonde perked up at the Latina's statement "no that wouldn't work either…" the small brunette said slumping back in her chair while Brittany also visibly sulked. _

"_I don't know what to do Sanny…" Brittany slowly began "I think I have to go to Michigan" she continued resigning herself to her fate as her shoulders slumped in disappointment_

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_The day continued with both girls feeling miserable. Their teacher Mrs. Alston even noticed the girl's usually sad moods._

"_What's wrong girl's?" she questioned felling sorry for the two gloomy toddlers_

"_I'm never going to see Santana again" Brittany stated as she began to cry_

_Mrs. Alston pulled Brittany in for a comforting hug as her heart broke for the small child. She knew how close Brittany and Santana had become this year. It was almost to the point where one couldn't move without the other as if a magnetic force was pulling them towards one another. But the Pierce family was going to Michigan for the summer effectively separating the adorable duo. She sat there for a few moments holding the crying girl while rubbing soothing circles on Brittany's back as Santana watched the scene in front of her also on the verge of tears._

"_Girls…" Mrs. Alston began "Don't cry… it won't be forever… just for the summer. In September you will be back together as if you were never apart"_

_Mrs. Alston knew the concept of time was hard for 5 year olds to grasp and a summer apart probably did feel like forever to the two young girls. So she gently took both of the girl's small hands in her own and gave them the only advice she could "The summer will be over before you know it… you both are going to have so much fun this summer that you will hardly have time to miss each other." She said smiling at the two best friends_

_Mrs. Alston could tell her words had little effect on the girls because they both still looked heartbroken. As she walked away from the two girls to address another one of her students who just hit a girl with his ruler she took one last look at the girls and she felt her own emotions starting to get the better of her because she could almost feel the pain radiating off of the pair. Those two really love each other Mrs. Alston thought._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_A couple days had past and it was the last day of school. Brittany's mood had improved considerably. She was basically back to her old self, but Santana was still lost. Who am I gonna play with this summer she thought? It didn't matter who she found to play with it wouldn't be the same because she only wanted Brittany. _

_Santana looked around the room at all her happy classmates. All the kids were talking about how much fun they were going to have this summer, going to the pool, playing at the park, going to the beach, everyone seemed to be excited; everyone except Santana._

_Santana watched her best friend from afar while she played with the class hamster. She felt like crying; she was going to miss Brittany so much. I have to find a way for Brittany to not forget about me this summer the small Latina thought. _

_I got it… I'll draw her a picture…this way she will never forget me._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_The school day was coming to a close and everyone was packing up to leave. Santana bent down in front of Brittany's Disney princess backpack and slowly pulled the zipper back while she gently placed her drawing and note inside. She hoped Brittany would find it and it would make her friend smile. As she was zipping the backpack back up Brittany was slowly approaching._

_Brittany looked at her friend for a moment trying to memorize every one of the Latina's features. After she was satisfied that she wouldn't forget she leapt into the Latina's little arms and began to cry. Santana feeling Brittany crying against her also lost it as sobs began to shake the small girls frame._

_They held one another for a long time. So long in fact; that both of the girl's mothers had arrived to pick them up. The two older women watched their daughters in amazement. It was hard to believe that two girls so young could feel so deeply. Looking at one another the two older women smiled as if they were saying in their expression that they knew how rare it was for two girls to be as connected as Brittany and Santana were._

_The two women slowly approached their daughter's who were holding onto each other so tightly they almost couldn't pull them apart._

XXXXXXXXXX

Just then out of the corner of her eye Santana spotted her shoes.

She quickly put the note back in the shoebox safely and exited the closet to finish getting ready and head down stairs for breakfast.

Santana had known from the age of five just how rare it was to have someone like Brittany in her life and the fact that Brittany had kept those letters, notes and drawing all this time Brittany had obviously known has well.

Santana let that comforting feeling sink in for a moment before slowly walking down stairs.

Upon walking down stairs she spotted Anthony first who was staring intently at the television. She was pretty sure they could have an earthquake right now and he wouldn't notice.

Next, she saw her daughter who was sitting happily in her swing playfully swatting at the dangling toys in front of her eyes. The Latina smiled taking in the sights of her happy children.

Finally, she landed on Brittany who was standing at the kitchen counter arranging breakfast for everyone. Santana slowly walked up behind Brittany enough not to startle the blonde and gently encircled her wife in a from behind hug while placing a gentle kiss on the blonde's neck.

Relaxing into the embrace Brittany asked "what was that for?"

"For being the most incredible wife ever that's what it's for…" Santana stated

They stood contently in the kitchen for a few moments just enjoying the contact before Anthony came bursting into the kitchen demanding his pancakes.

As Brittany pulled away Santana whispered "I love you" to her wife and slowly walked over to sit next to her son while they both enjoyed their pancakes. She smiled as the little boy devoured his breakfast and thought, God I hope some day my kids are as lucky as I was to find a friend and partner as wonderful as Brittany.

**AN: Well that was so sugary sweet I hope I didn't give anyone a cavity. Toddler Brittana is just too cute for words.**

**If anyone is wondering what Santana does for a living I had a whole chapter written that was supposed to come before this one explaining that Santana was a personal trainer and that she owned her own gym, but there was something I didn't like about it so I decided to scrape it for now and continue to tweek it hoping it will improve somehow. But anyway that's what she does; she a personal trainer for celebrities. **

**Hope everyone liked it! If you did tell me what you liked, if you didn't you can still tell me what you didn't like, I would really appreciate it.**

**Thanks again for reading! Please review!**

**Take care!**


	5. Brittany is Always Right

**AN: I hope people enjoyed the last chapter with toddler Brittana, I know I thought it was adorable, but I didn't hear to much about that chapter in the reviews so maybe it sucked. If anyone has time, let me know what you thought about chapter 4 even if you thought it sucked.**

**Glad this chapter is in the bag it has been nothing but trouble. Not really sure why I struggled so much, but I did. I hope it doesn't show too much and people still enjoy it. **

**Happy reading**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill!**

Brittany is Always Right

It was after 1pm when Santana finally was leaving her meeting at Fox. The meeting had gone pretty much the way she had expected. They had made her an offer to be the strength and conditioning coach in the upcoming reality show that tracked aspiring NCAA cheerleaders as they went through tryouts and eventually made the cheerleading team at USC.

The Fox executive told her about the project and Santana had to admit she was intrigued. She told them she would consider their offer and let them know by the end of the week, but she was probably more curious about the Coach Sylvester connection then the actual job. Santana wanted to know more about what had occurred that caused Sue to get fired and the team disbanded, but she was reluctant to ask because it really had no bearing on the actual project Fox was developing, but it sure didn't stop her from wondering.

Sue had done so many shady things while she was coaching and teaching at McKinley so Santana was pretty sure her dismissal wasn't only about free tanning and salon appointments; there had to be more to the story Santana thought, but no matter what the reasons was… Sue had finally got what was coming to her after putting Santana and her friends through 4 years of hell. So at the very least, Santana did get a small sense of satisfaction knowing Sue had finally got what she deserved.

Santana was now on her way to finish her work day at the gym. She had to fill out some paperwork that she had been neglecting and she still had one appointment with a client before she could head home to her family for the night.

In times like this when Santana couldn't be at the gym Puck handled the day to day business. Sam was also around to bail Puck out should Puck get himself into trouble which did happen from time to time. On more than a few occasions Santana had got complaints from irate husbands complaining about Puck's interaction with their wives. So it was reassuring for Santana to have Sam around when she couldn't be there just to make sure Puck didn't set the place on fire or anything.

Upon arriving she said hi to both Puck and Sam who were both with clients at the time and quickly went back to her office to finish her paperwork before her 3pm appointment. Santana had never met the guy she was going to be training today because his agent had made the appointment since Santana trained so many of his other clients, but upon seeing David she knew it was going to be a long two hours.

After making David throw up once and cry twice the two hours of torture were over and Santana retreated back to her office. She sunk in the chair behind her desk and closed her eyes. "God that was painful…" she mumbled "what a pussy". She internally thought this movie he was training for was destined to fail considering he couldn't even convince a blind man he was tough. Maybe I should take that job she thought… at least I wouldn't have to work with that douche bag ever again.

Most days she enjoyed her job, but there were always those few bad days or ass hole clients that caused her to question if she had chosen the right career path. Just as she was having one of those moments of doubt she caught a glimpse of a couple of pictures on the corner of her desk. She reached across her desk and picked up the shiny silver frame. It was a picture of Brittany with the kids. She smiled as she gazed upon the picture. Brittany was holding Emily who couldn't be more than a week old as Anthony hover over them staring with wide eyes at the fragile baby. He gazed in amazement at the little girl in Brittany's arms as if he might break her with any small touch. Santana smiled as she placed the picture back in its spot on her desk before she grabbed the second picture.

"Wow… we look so young" she whispered to no one as she recalled the day she had made the decision to start her own business. Oh… and I guess I did make one other major life decision that day as well she thought with a smile.

_**Flashback-**__ January 2017_

"_Puta madre" Santana yelled as she slammed the door to her apartment. She mumbled a few more profanities in Spanish as Brittany came strolling into the room_

"_Rough day at the office honey?" Brittany said mocking the Latina's foul mood_

"_My worthless piece of shit boss has no fucking clue how to run that gym. The man can't even spell his own name without spell check and his name is Mark Jones… so how is he possibly supposed to run a successful business; I'm gonna be out of a job in a month. O and on top of his stupidity he is a sexist prick with zero social skills who can't even string together two sentences without making a comment about my ass. I mean I know I have a great ass, but come on… I believe he said something today while I was teaching a client how to do a squat that included him bouncing a quarter off my ass" she said all in one breath with her arms flailing and nostrils flared in anger_

_Brittany hesitated a minute taking in all of the Latina's words before landing on the most important aspect in her opinion_

"_You don't have a great ass… you have an AMAZING ASS" the blonde stated while craning her neck and raising her eyebrows to take a peak_

_Brittany's comment finally allowed the Latina a moment to decompress after her rant and stressful day as she finally let out a cleansing deep breath_

_Santana's heart rate finally started to normalize when she noticed Brittany's eyes bulging while she stared at the brunette's butt. _

"_See something you like?" the Latina teased with a sexy grin_

"_O I see a lot that I like" responded the blonde while gently slapping the brunette's butt_

_The Latina put her hands on the blonde's hips and pulled her close connecting their lips in a heated kiss. The kiss was sloppy, all tongues and teeth as their hands frantically grabbing for any contact they could find. Santana knew that she was leaving little half moon marks from her nails on Brittany's delicate skin but she didn't care at the moment; she needed this. _

_The kiss in time gradually began to slow and become more tender and passionate as their hands gently began soothing the marks they had just left on their partner's bodies. They were lulled into a beautiful content rhythm as they continued to kiss one another. Finally air became a necessity and Brittany reluctantly pulled back while Santana still kept her arms locked around her girlfriend's waist not allowing her to back away._

"_So do you feel better now?" the blonde stated while panting slightly and trying to regain her equilibrium_

"_Feel better?" the brunette questioned "you just got me all hot and bothered and are now trying to pull away?" she responded while shaking her head "No, I can't say I feel better"_

"_NO…" Brittany responded "I meant that you got that rant off your chest?_

"_Rant off my chest...?" Santana questioned looking confused "Were we talking… I don't remember?" she said with that sexy grin she knew drove Brittany crazy as she leaned in for another kiss_

_The Latina pulled away this time and said "I barely know what planet I'm on when you kiss me like that" _

"_Earth silly…" Brittany responded with a giggle obviously taking the Latina's comment literally "O and we were talking about your boss"_

"_O yeah…" Santana grumbled "That stupid fucktard" still playing stupid as if she didn't remember_

_Both of them were still a little dazed after that amazing kiss so they both just stood there staring at on another for a few more moments before Santana broke the spell_

"_Britt?"_

"_Yeah?" the blonde responded while playing with some exposed skin at the small of Santana's back_

"_Let's get out of here… go on a vacation or something. I think I need a break from real life for a little while." Santana said with desperation in her tone_

"_Babe how are we going to go on a vacation; combined we have like $42 in the bank?" the blonde stated honestly _

_Santana grumbled "I know… Its just I need a break from life! My job and boss suck, we have no money, we can barely pay our bills, we sleep on a mattress on the floor, I have a piece of shit car…, O and did I mention my job and boss suck."_

"_You said that already"_

"_I know… It bears repeating" as frustration laced the Latina's words "God being an adult sucks!"_

_Brittany sensing how deeply her girlfriend needed this break tried to come up with a plan. "Well maybe we don't have to go away to go on a vacation… maybe we can go on a vacation right here at home?"_

"_Britt, I don't know if that's possible" Santana responded_

"_Sure it is… a vacation is what you make of it… and we'll make it fun!" the blonde stated confidently "How bout we go to the beach?"_

"_I don't know…"the brunette responded still not quite believing her girlfriend_

"_Come on… you're with me how could you not have fun?" Brittany stated with enough enthusiasm to make Santana reconsider_

"_Alright… alright, you win" Santana said while holding her hands up in a sign of surrender "Lets go to the beach" _

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_Santana was still a little unsure if this trip to the beach would do the trick and actually improve her spirits, but as they drove the short drive to the beach the blonde beside her belted out every song that came on the radio and with each passing song that Brittany sang the Latina could feel the stress starting to fall away and the smile getting bigger the closer they got to the beach._

_When they arrived at the beach the sun was starting its decent towards the horizon. Santana had to admit it was beautiful. The beach was fairly deserted only a few people were walking around. They got out of the car and immediately link pinkies as they started their journey towards the surf._

_Santana noticed her girlfriend getting more and more excited the further they walked. Brittany was practically skipping with excitement as they continued and Santana took this opportunity to link their hands together more intimately as she noticed the joy in Brittany's expression._

_They continued walking in comfortable silence until Brittany spotted a group of seagulls gathering further up the beach. In an instant she took of running leaving Santana to slowly stroll in her direction all the while smiling at Brittany's child like enthusiasm._

_The blonde finally started to tire enough for Santana to catch up to her girlfriend. Upon reaching the blonde who was now breathing heavy from the exertion they slowly lowered themselves to sit in the warm sand to watch the sunset. Santana sat with Brittany resting between her legs so Brittany's back was flush against her chest. Santana lowered her chin to rest on her girlfriends shoulder and placed a soft kiss to the base of her neck._

"_See I told you this vacation would be fun" Brittany said with a slight smirk almost saying I told you so in her expression_

"_You were right…" Santana said resigning herself to being wrong again "this was a good idea"_

_There was silence for awhile as they both just took in their surroundings and the comfort of having the other wrapped up in their body_

_Brittany announced breaking the quiet moment abruptly "I think you should quit your job" _

_Santana was more than a little shocked by the blonde's outburst "I can't quit my job… how would we pay our bills?" Santana questioned_

_The blonde thought on that for a minute before responding "You should start your own gym!" She said excitedly thinking it was a great plan "I know you would do a way better job that that stupid boss of yours"_

"_Britt it takes money to start a business… money we don't have." She responded a little too sharply_

"_You can get a loan"_

_Santana was shocked that Brittany knew what a loan was… "Maybe…" the Latina paused thinking for a minute _

"_The bank might give me a loan if my parents co-signed" the Latina said thinking out loud_

"_See problem solved… no more stupid boss… no more lousy pay… and you're gonna be rich" the blonde stated signaling the end of the conversation_

_They resumed staring out to sea as a gentle breezy caressed their skin while the sun continued it's decent towards the sea. Santana used this quiet time to consider Brittany's crazy idea. She thought about the pros and cons and decided maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea after all. Stuck in her own head with a million thoughts running wild she barely heard Brittany finally speak._

"_San…" Brittany said shaking the Latina from her thoughts "Can seagulls swim?"_

_Santana chuckled at the unexpected question. "No babe… seagulls can't swim"_

"_Then why do they call them seagulls if they can't swim?"_

"_Because they live at the beach… which happens to have a great view of the sea" Santana responded while gesturing towards the ocean trying to make the blonde understand_

"_O…" _

_Santana could see the wheels still turning in the blondes head. "Well maybe they should be called beachgulls instead… since they live at the beach and not in the sea"_

_Santana laughed despite herself for the first time since arriving home from work. Brittany really did know how to distract the Latina from her problems "You are so adorable… I love you…" stated the Brunette_

_And at that moment something clicked for the Latina. Brittany was right; she was right about a lot of things. She was right about starting a business, she was right about this vacation and she had been right about their entire relationship from the very beginning. And in that instant she realized she never wanted to be without Brittany ever again. _

_The words were out before Santana had the opportunity to over think them "Marry me?"_

_The blonde froze in Santana's arms instantly and for a brief moment the Latina thought she might have made a mistake._

"_What?" Brittany responded hesitantly almost as if she hadn't heard the Latina right._

_Santana summoned all her courage and with more conviction she repeated again "Marry me?" _

_Brittany turned around slowly in her girlfriend's arms to see if what she had heard was for real and the vision she was met with was one that made Brittany's heart skip a beat and all she saw were Santana's deep brown eyes pleading with her to say yes._

"_San…" she hesitated "We can't get married"_

_Santana's heart sunk for a brief moment "Why not?" she responded since she had already decided she was going to change Brittany's mind "I have been in love with you in one way or another since I was 5 years old and deep down I have probably known that I wanted to marry you for almost as long." She paused thinking for an instant "In fact I know exactly when I realized I wanted to marry you. Do you remember that time when we found those white first communion dresses in my basement?"_

"_Yeah…" Brittany responded as her voice quivered_

"_Remember we put them on and pretended we were at our own weddings. I knew right then that you would make the most beautiful bride and maybe it was just me being a naive 6 year old, but I secretly hoped it was me that you were marrying." Santana stated being heart wrenchingly honest_

"_I wanted to marry then… I want to marry you now… and I have wanted to marry you every day in-between… so please Brittany, say you'll marry me?"_

_At this point Brittany's eyes were glassed over with unshed tears and her chest was painfully tight as Santana stared deep into her soul. She had never heard Santana speak with such honesty. She knew saying that had not been easy for her girlfriend._

_Santana impatiently waited for an answer all the while holding her breath and fearing the worst._

"_YES" Brittany finally screamed while tackling Santana to the sand "Yes I will marry you" she said again all the while peppering Santana with kisses everywhere she could possible reach._

_Once the relief and excitement of the moment died down after a few minutes of making out on the sand Santana realized "O my God I don't have a ring"_

"_It's okay…" Brittany responded trying to reassure the brunette "I don't need a ring… your all I need"_

"_You ABSOLUTELY do need a ring" stated the Latina panicking slightly while looking around for anything that could be used as a temporary ring_

_Santana frantically scanned the area and was coming up empty until she noticed a string dangling from her cheerios t-shirt. She pulled the string from the base of the shirt and started again. "Brittany Susan Pierce will you marry me?"_

"_Yes" whispered the blonde while leaning in to place a delicate kiss to the brunettes plump lips._

_Reaching over and taking the blonde left hand she gently tied the string to Brittany's ring finger as tears flowed freely down both of the girls cheeks_

"_It's perfect…" the blonde stated adoringly "you're perfect" as the two women gazed into each others eyes_

"_I know this isn't ideal" Santana said pointing to the black string as her expression fell slightly "it's kind of cheesy I know…, but you know I will get you a real engagement ring as soon as possible right?"_

"_There's no rush… besides I kind of like it and ever time I look down and see this string I will remember what a great vacation this was and how overjoyed I was in this moment with you" Brittany responded with nothing but love and sincerity lining her words_

_They sat in a happy daze cuddled together until the sun had completely fallen below the horizon. They finally rose and gently brushed the sand away before walking hand in hand happily back towards the car._

_So deeply in their own little world they didn't even notice and older couple walking towards them also hand in hand._

_The older couple hesitated for a moment taking in the sight of the two lovebirds "Excuse me…" the older women said startling the two women from their lovedrunk haze "I just wanted to tell you how cute the two of you look and how nice it is to see two young people now-a-days so in love"_

"_Thank you…" responded Brittany while she gazed lovingly at the brunette next to her. _

"_Actually we just got engaged" the blonde stated as if she couldn't wait to tell someone; she was bubbling with obvious joy when the words spilled out of her mouth._

"_O my… that's wonderful dear, now I can see why you both look so happy" responded the silver haired women who also appeared to be almost equally happy for the young couple_

"_You should capture this moment some how because it's always nice to have a memento to remind yourself when times get rough just how in love and happy you both are at this very moment." The gray haired women stated _

_She hesitated a moment and finally continued while looking into the eyes of what they could only assume was her husband "And with a lot of hard work and a little help from the heavens you'll stay this happy forever."_

_The two women looked at each other for a moment and smiled "She right" Santana stated while pulling out her phone "Would you take a picture for us"_

"_Of coarse dear it would be my pleasure" the older women responded sweetly _

_As the older women held the phone about to take the picture the two women embraced each other and smiled in the women's direction while Brittany raised her left hand displaying the small piece of black string tied around her ring finger. _

"_Say cheese"_

"_cheeeeese" the girls responded in unison with huge smiles plastered on their faces_

_XXXXXXXXXX_

Just then Santana heard a knock on her office door bring her back to reality.

The door opened and the one and only Noah Puckerman stepped inside

After a few moments the Latina looked in her visitor's direction; she put down the frame and finally acknowledged Puck's presence with a head nod.

"What's up…?" Puck questioned obviously a little concerned with the Latina's far away look "You seemed like you were in your own little world when I first came in?"

"O nothing… just day dreaming about my beautiful wife"

"Gross Lopez… put some ice on it" he responded with a sly smirk "here take some tissues" he said while tossing the tissue box at the Latina "and wipe your hands before you come out; you have a delivery to sign for. We wouldn't want the delivery guy to know you were back her whacking off." Puck said while turning to walk out the door.

Santana could swear she heard him whisper "and I thought I was the only one that did that at work" as he retreated down the hall

Santana laughed at the conclusion Puck had come to while rising from her desk and heading down to sign for the delivery.

Before exiting her office she took one last look at the picture on her desk. She smiled as the memory washed over her one final time. As she was walking down the hall she realized despite all her complaining about work and her clients, no day could truly be that bad as long as she had Brittany and her family to come home to.

**AN: Phew… I'm exhausted! There is still something about this chapter that I can't quiet put my finger on that I'm not happy about, but hey it's not about me its about you all so if you can figure out what is off with this chapter please let me know. O and if I wrong please tell me how wonderful you think it is. **** A person can never hear too many compliments. :D**

**How was the proposal? Was it too corny with the string and the flashback within the flashback? **

**O and the term fucktard belongs to me; I'm copywriting it under the definition of fucking retard. I hope it's not offensive to anyone.**

**I know this fic has been super fluffy up to this point but next chapter I'm gonna bring the angst. I hope…**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review!**


	6. Bad New

**AN: Finally, Emily gets more than a cameo. (Well… not much more, but more than Anthony for once) I feel like I have been neglecting her and for that I apologies. I like this chapter so I hope everyone else does too. Well onward and downward. Enjoy!**

**Warning- Non Brittana character death**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the computer this is written on.**

Bad News

Santana sat in the darkness of her daughter's bedroom while slowly rocking the innocent baby girl who was struggling to stay awake. It seemed like Santana rarely got one on one time with Emily, so now that she had it; she was going to savor every minute. Brittany normally was the one that got to put Emily down due to breast feeding so now that they were switching to bottle feedings Santana finally got to take her turn. Santana wasn't sure how long they had been in the rocking chair peacefully rocking back and forth, but she knew she was loving every minute.

Santana watched the little girl's clear blue eye grow heavier and heavier as they slowly closed for what Santana hoped was the rest of the night. Santana placed a delicate kiss to her daughter's forehead before slowly getting up to place the sleeping girl in her crib. Santana stood for a moment leaning against the railing gently rubbing the little girls belly while softly singing.

"You Are My Sunshine  
>My only sunshine.<br>You make me happy  
>When skies are grey.<br>You'll never know, dear,  
>How much I love you.<br>Please don't take my sunshine away"

After she finished her lullaby she stood for a moment watching the sleeping baby before whispering "Goodnight Em" and slowly exiting the room.

She walked downstairs to find Brittany curled up on the couch looking completely drained.

"So… you got Anthony to sleep?" Santana announced as she enter the room with a smirk knowing how difficult it normally was

The blonde sighed out of exhaustion "It wasn't easy…" she replied with an eye roll

Santana let out a small laugh knowing Brittany's struggle

"You think that's funny?" Brittany said responding to her wife's laughter

"I do…" she said while scooting in close to the blonde on the couch."Now you know what I have been through for the last 7 months while you got to put the easy one down" the Latina said with a cocky smile

"Babe…I have a whole new level of respect for your parental skills…" the blonde stated as she placed a kiss to Santana's head "that is definitely no easy task" she continued while wrapping her arms around her wife.

They sat cuddled together on the couch while Brittany slowly trailed her fingertips across Santana's soft skin causing goose bumps to rise. "That feels sooo good" the Latina cooed as her eyes rolled back in her head. The blonde continued her feather light touches on Santana upper body as the brunette melted into her wife's embrace.

They sat there for what only felt like minutes before the ringing of the phone disturbed their peaceful moment.

"Let it ring" announce the Latina more than a little frustrated with the disruption

"What if it's important?"

"Then they'll leave a voicemail" Santana said curtly

Neither made a move to leave the comfort of the couch, but they both strained to listen as the person on the other end of the phone started to leave a message.

Santana wrinkled her brow and questioned "Is that Mercedes?"

Brittany craned her neck and stuck out her ear to listen more intently "Yeah, I think it is… and something doesn't sound right" she said as she quickly got up and ran to pick up the phone.

"Hello" stated the blonde while holding the phone up to her ear

Santana watched the one sided conversation with concern; something was definitely not right she thought.

Just then Brittany dropped the phone and fell to her knees starting to weep. Immediately, Santana was at her side placing a concerned hand on her back while grabbing the phone from the floor.

"Mercedes are you still there?"

She listened intently as her friend relayed the horrible news. Artie was dead!

Santana finally hung up the phone after listening to Mercedes relay the story about how Artie had tried to stop a mugging, but ended up getting stabbed in the process. Santana couldn't help but think what an idiot he was; why did he always have to be such a do gooder she thought.

Her attention was now drawn back to Brittany who was now sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder.

"Babe…" the Latina hesitated while rubbing soothing circles on Brittany's back "I'm so sorry" she said looking at Brittany with concern and sadness in her eyes.

They both sat there huddled on the kitchen floor while Santana held the crying blonde until finally Brittany's sobs started to subside. Santana cupped her wife's cheeks while attempting to wipe away the tears with the pads of her thumbs. The blonde continued to sniffle as their eyes finally met "Are you okay?" Santana asked while looking deeply into Brittany's sad blue eyes.

"No, I'm not okay" she bit back startling the Latina

"Artie's dead" Brittany yelled as she stood up for the first time since hearing the news.

Santana slowly rose from the floor a little stunned at how angry Brittany was acting. "I know…" she said trying to comfort her wife "I'm so sorry… I know how much you loved him" Santana stated while reaching out to the blonde

"What do you care" Brittany snapped back "You never like him in the first place"

All Santana could do was just stand there in stunned silence as she dropped her arms that had previously been reaching for her wife as tears started to pool behind her eyes. "Wow…" she said taking a minute to compose herself "That's extremely unfair" while backing away slightly

Brittany seeing the hurt in her wife's eyes tried to recover "Santana, I'm sorry…" she said while tears continued to fall and taking a step toward the brunette "I didn't mean it"

"DON'T" announced the Latina obviously hurt by Brittany's words "I think I need a minute" she said while holding up her hand and slowly walking out of the kitchen

As she walked out of the kitchen she heard Brittany's crying intensify, but at this point she was too hurt to go back in to comfort her. She couldn't believe Brittany actually said what she said.

Artie had never been one of Santana's favorite people, but to not care that he had been killed was a very low blow. So Santana sat in the dark study, alone, trying to compose herself enough to go back out and talk to her wife. She thought back to the last time she had seen Artie; it really had been a long time.

_**Flashback-**__ February 2017_

_Artie had been one of the few people that stayed in Lima after graduation. Santana liked to think of Artie as a Lima loser because of it, which made Santana smile when she thought about it; she had finally beat Artie at something._

_Throughout high school, even though she hated admitting it; she was jealous of Artie. Despite Artie's handicap he managed to get a lot things Santana wanted, solos in glee club, people liked him more and worst of all; he got Brittany. He somehow managed to give her what she needed when Santana couldn't and it killed the Latina knowing he was the better man so to speak. _

_Even after Brittany and Artie had broken up it still felt like he had a piece of her_. _Like, he was a better person and that was why Brittany was so drawn to him._

_So when Brittany got a call from Artie saying that he was going to have this experimental surgery that might make it possible for him to walk; Santana was nervous. She was nervous that if Brittany saw him again it might bring back those feelings that she once had for him. Santana was safe in California, she didn't have to worry or think about Sit and Spin swooping in and stealing her girl, but if they went back and saw him again, Santana wasn't so sure. She knew Brittany wouldn't leave her to get back together with Artie, but she was terrified that there still was a small part of Brittany that wanted to be with him._

_So when they got on the plane to fly to New York she was terrified; what if Brittany still had feelings for him she thought._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_Everyone had shown up and was waiting for news in the waiting room. Rachel, Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine had been there since before Artie had gone into surgery since they all lived in New York and everyone else was slowly straggling in to be there to support Artie. Santana internally wonder if the roles were reversed would everyone show up for her. Mike and Tina were the last to arrive and they walked in carrying their new daughter and Brittany broke the tension in the room when she announced to everyone that she knew their baby would be Asian._

_Santana was enjoying seeing her old friends from high school, but something about being around them made her feel self conscious again. High school had pretty much sucked for her and being around the glee club again was just a reminder of how weak she had been back then._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_Days passed and everyone was starting to give up hope that the surgery had worked; everyone except Brittany. Brittany was still anxiously anticipating Artie taking his first steps despite all the odds. She believed he would walk again even back in high school; and when Brittany believed in something she never gave up; hell Brittany's belief in her had sure been proof of that._

_Slowly, most of the glee kids left New York and returned to their lives. Finn, Quinn, Mike, Tina, and Lauren had left to return to Lima yesterday and Puck and Sam were headed back to L.A. on the next flight._

"_You comin with us?" Puck asked as he and Sam were saying their goodbyes to everyone._

_The Latina sighed "No… Britt doesn't want to leave until she sees Artie walk"_

_Puck eyebrows shot up questioning the Latina's statement "You do know that his chances of walking at this point are probably slim to none, right?"_

"_I know that…, but Brittany is another story"_

"_You're so pussy whipped" Puck teased causing the Latina to roll her eyes_

_He gave the Latina a tight hug and Santana knew that he was saying he was there for her. That he knew how hard this was for her and if she needed him he was there. They exchanged knowing looks as he slowly separated and turned to leave the hospital._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_Everyone else that was still around had gone down to the cafeteria to get some food thus leaving the Latina alone with Artie._

_They sat in awkward silence for God only knows how long before Artie finally spoke "So…" he hesitated "you and Brittany are getting married?" he said with a look of uncertainty_

"_Yup" she replied curtly_

"_Well I guess congratulations are in order then… I'm happy for Brittany"_

_Santana rolled her eyes in response not missing the fact that he had said happy for Brittany and not for her. _

_There was silence for awhile before he spoke again "I guess that means you finally won"_

_Santana laughed in response to his statement "Did you honestly think that you had a chance with her?"_

_His expression fell and Santana knew she had wounded him_

"_At one point I did…" he replied after a brief hesitation "but the longer we were together the more I realized that she would never be mine" he said hesitating again before continuing "she gave her heart away to you a long time ago"_

_Santana was stunned by his candor and in that moment she decided to lower her defenses and be honest with him as well. "She loves you… you know that right?"_

"_Yeah I know" he said with a sigh "But it's not the way I love her… or the way she loves you"_

_They both sat thinking about his statement for a minute and Santana realized… she had spent all these years hating and being jealous of Artie and all the while he had been feeling the same thing. She wondered if the shoe had been on the other foot and Artie had been the one Brittany had chosen if she could be as accepting._

_She knew she wouldn't; she had been right about that… he was a better person than her._

"_I just want her to be happy" he said shaking the Latina from her thoughts "You make her happy in a way that I never could"_

_Wow, thought Santana this guy is really that virtuous… and from that point on Santana lost all will power to dislike the man. They both wanted the same thing and that was for Brittany to be happy._

"_You really are running for sainthood aren't you?" Santana asked slightly mocking the man but smiling genuinely_

_Artie thinking Santana was being her normal sarcastic self replied "No… I mean every word"_

_Santana relaxed at his comment "I know you do… I can see it" she said hoping he could tell she was being honest with him for the first time "Thank you…" she said "thank you for everything. Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn't and thank you for being honest with me now. You're a good man… and I'm sorry your surgery didn't work out" she said summoning up as much sincerity as she could_

"_Hey… don't count me out just yet." He announced with a smile "I could still walk out of here" _

_They both smiled at one another for probably the first time in their lives. "I hope you do" Santana said honestly_

_Just then Brittany, Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine came back into the room. Brittany noticed it was just Santana and Artie alone in the room instantly and she faltered for a moment because of it; then she noticed the smiles on both of their faces. She made her way over to the chair next to Santana and sat down while smiling lovingly at her fiancé. She took Santana's hand in her own and kissed the Latina on the cheek. She knew something had gone down between Santana and Artie since there was no longer tension between the two and for that she was grateful for whatever step her fiancé had taken to make that happen. _

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_Two days later Artie took his first step and Brittany and Santana had been there to witness it just like Brittany had planned back in high school. Santana couldn't have been happier for the guy. He deserved something good in his life, probably more than most people._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

_Finally, Santana and Brittany returned to L.A. and the interesting thing was they never spoke of what happened between Santana and Artie. Santana didn't feel the need. She and Artie had come to and understanding… and it was a moment shared just between the two of them and that was enough._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

Santana continue to stare at the wall of the dark study while a few tears ran down her face. She was upset about what had just taken place between her and Brittany, but these tears weren't because of that; these tears were tears mourning the lose of her friend. She could say that now where she couldn't years ago; Artie was her friend and he was a good man and he didn't deserve what the world had thrown at him. He deserved much better!

Santana took a minute to wipe away her tears before gradually getting up from the chair and walking out to find her wife.

She walked into the dark bedroom to find Brittany curled up lying in bed. She knew Brittany was awake, she could still hear little sniffles coming from the blonde.

She slid under the covers behind her wife and gently pulled Brittany towards her. At this point the blonde did start to cry. "I'm sorry" she stated through her muffled cries

"I know" was all Santana said as she pulled Brittany in tighter

**AN: Sorry I killed Artie, but hey this is a Brittana fic so I'm sure most of you won't mind. Gotta admit I got a little chocked up when Santana was mourning Artie in the study. I'm such a sap **

**Next chapter the rating will change to M. I hope that is okay with everyone… I think our ladies are in need of some make up comfort sex.**

**Good night all and don't forget to review!**


	7. Make Up Sex

**AN: Please note the rating change. This chapter contains adult content and I think the title says it all. Also, there is no flashback in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee; sorry to say!**

Make Up Sex

It was early… and by that I mean really early. The sky had barely started to show hints of daylight. Santana and Brittany hadn't spoken since Brittany's apology and Santana's acceptance of that apology. Neither felt the need… Santana knew that Brittany hadn't meant what she said, she was just upset at the lose of their friend.

Neither had really slept last night, they just laid there holding one another, both in their own minds dealing with a wide array of emotions. Occasionally, Santana would hear a muffled whimper coming from the blonde and in response she would just pull Brittany closer. There was really nothing that could be said to take the pain away so Santana just held the blonde hoping the embrace would at least bring the women some comfort.

After a particularly long bout of soft cries coming from Brittany, Santana decided it was time to speak. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what Brittany was thinking because even though she knew how much Brittany loved her, it was still hard to hear Brittany speak about Artie with so much love "What are you thinking?" she asked in a mere whisper summoning all her courage

Brittany continued with her light sniffling as Santana once again pulled Brittany into her body breathing in the blonde's sweet scent.

"Life is so fragile…" the blonde said as her voice broke "It's so scary to think that at any minute something could happen and take someone you love away"

Santana tucked her face into the nock of the blonde's neck inhaling deeply as her lips grazed Brittany's ear as she whispered softly "I know…but I do know one thing for sure… you're never gonna lose me" said the Latina as her emotions were also threatening to spill over

"How do you know?" the blonde questioned weakly as a single tear escaped her sad blue eyes

Santana thought for a moment before continuing "I don't know…" she said "I can just feel it…"

They both laid there thinking about that for a minute before the Latina spoke again "You and I are both so connected that it would be impossible to separate the two of us. How else can you explain when we came into each others dreams like we did at the dentist office? There is no way there is any earthly force that could compete with that. You and I are going to die together as old women" stated the Latina with as much conviction as she could muster.

Santana place a few chaste kisses to the side of Brittany's neck as they both pondered that thought. They both laid there silently thinking while Santana's hand began trailing up and down Brittany's side leaving small goose bumps on Brittany's soft skin where she touched.

The air was thick as the blonde spoke again "Make love to me Santana… I need to feel close to you?"

Not needing to be told twice Santana let out a sigh while gently rolling forward trying to get closer as she purposely thrust her hips into the blondes rear end as the Latina moaned softly into Brittany's ear in response to the contact.

"I love you so much" Santana whispered

Brittany responded as her voice continued to quiver "I love you too"

Making no attempt to rush or dominate; the brunette continued to explore Brittany's side with her hand as she slow pulled at the hem of Brittany's tank top revealing Brittany's toned stomach. She gently slid her hand up and down the blondes stomach stopping at the under side of the blonde's breast and the waistband of her shorts. Finally, Santana gently tugged on Brittany's side getting her to turn over so they were now face to face.

Their foreheads touched as they both stared deeply into each others eyes. The intensity of the moment was making it difficult to breath as Santana pulled her head back only an inch or two and gazed at her beloved before slowly diving back in to capture Brittany lips in a slow tender kiss.

The kiss was extremely slow and passionate as their tongues gently moved in an out of each others mouths, tasting what the other person had to offer. Brittany's hands were now cupping the Latina's cheeks as the Latina's hand was still slowly brushing up and down Brittany's exposed skin or her side and back since her tank top had rode up. They continued to kiss, neither feeling the need to pick up the pace at this point as they both breathed heavily into each others mouths.

After a few more minutes of gently caressing and softly kissing Brittany decided she needed more "Santana please…" she choked out breathlessly

Not needing more of an explanation Santana pulled Brittany onto her chest so that she could remove Brittany's tank top. With Brittany's entire weight now lying on the Latina body she slowly pulled Brittany's tank top up and off before easily discarding it on the floor.

Rolling her back so that they were once again facing each other Santana gently trailed her fingers and nails slowly down from the valley of the blonde's breast to the waistband of her shorts. Brittany grinded her hips and upper body forward into the Latina's touch while letting out a soft moan of approval.

Diving back in for another kiss more quickly this time Santana's hand found the top of Brittany's tight butt and pulled her close grinding their pelvis's together trying to gain some friction. At this contact they both let out breathy moans. Slowly and deliberately they continued to rock forward into one another groins as they both let out short gasps of breath which were only intensifying the burning in their cores as they continued to kiss; both women ached for more intimate contact at this point.

Santana once again found Brittany's ear and was nibbling gently as they continued to rock into one another. Finally, having enough of the foreplay Brittany breathed out "I need you Santana… please?"

Santana's eyes were burning with the heightened level of emotion as she gently pushed Brittany back so she was now resting on her back and as they moved neither woman broke their intense gaze.

Santana was now resting on her forearm as she continued to kiss down from Brittany's ear lobe to her neck while her other hand slowly explored Brittany's chest. Once she had finished lavishing the blondes throat with attention she looked deeply into Brittany's pleading eyes before slowly lower her mouth to Brittany's perfect breast.

She worked slowly; gently sucking and kissing the blonde's supple nipple until it was a hard peck as her hand gently massaged the other all the while the two lovers never once broke their eye contact. Santana continued lavishing attention on Brittany's upper body as they both let out soft deep breathy moans of approval.

Finally satisfied with her work on Brittany's upper body she decided to start her journey south.

Slowly, Santana rose to her knees as she looked deeply into Brittany clouded blue eyes for permission to continue. She quickly received it, as she confidently grasped Brittany's waistband and gently tugged downward.

Once Brittany's shorts and panties were removed Santana slowly kissed her way back up her wife's body starting at her ankle and working her way up the blonde's long leg to the inside of her thigh.

The Latina could easily see that her work was appreciated because Brittany's center was glistening with her arousal as her body started to tremble needing a deeper level of contact.

Now straddling one of Brittany's legs she slowly lowered her head so it was inches away from the blonde's center as she breathed in heavily while slowly releasing that breath onto Brittany's core. Brittany's breath got caught in her chest as she was trembling with need.

"Please…" Brittany begged "I need to feel you inside of me"

Smiling at her wife's desperation, Santana didn't feel the need to deny Brittany her release any longer.

Santana crawled back up Brittany trembling body as she leaned forward capturing Brittany's swollen lips once again in a breathy kiss as she gently parted Brittany's folds and began slowly moved her fingers up and down the blondes wet slit.

Brittany was now whimpering as the pleasure was coursing through her body which only pushed the Latina's desire onward. Santana continued to kiss her wife swallowing Brittany's moans as her hand slowly picked up pace.

The Latina was still working on the outside as she continued to stroke Brittany engorged clit. Sensing that enough was enough and knowing how close Brittany was to tumbling over the edge she finally entered the blonde with two fingers. They slid in easily and Brittany arched off the bed with a load moan of "O my God…" as she tightened around Santana's fingers.

Santana pumped slowly at first wanting to prolong this connection as Brittany wiggled and grinded below her. Finally sensing that it was time and not wanted to put off Brittany's release any longer she picked up the pace with her fingers as her thumb was now pressing into the blonde's clit. As they both rocked and grinded into one anther Santana could feel the burning intensifying in her own abdomen as her hand was rocking against her own still fully cover core.

Finally, Brittany gave way; her walls clenched as she screamed out Santana's name as the Latina's hand was coated with Brittany's release. Santana continued pumping allowing Brittany to ride out her orgasm as the blonde tremble below her.

Finally, the last waves of pleasure had died down in Brittany's body and Santana took this opportunity to lower her body back onto the bed.

Santana's arm and shoulder were starting to hurt from supporting her body so she slowly tucked her tired arm below Brittany's pillow while making no attempt to remove her fingers that were still buried deep within her wife.

Neither spoke for a few minutes as both of there bodies were pretty spent and they both were still breathing heavily.

Finally, after a short time spent just staring lovingly at one another Brittany spoke "That was incredible…" she breathed out

Santana smiled at the praise as she finally removed her fingers and brought them up to her lips as she leaned forward kissing her fingers and Brittany's lips at the same time. When her fingers no longer tasted of her wife's release she pulled back and internally thought I hope Brittany has enough strength to return the favor or else I will be sore for days.

Brittany did; because at that exact moment she sat up and look down at Santana whose body was still completely clothed and began to stripe the Latina of her top.

Brittany worked much faster than Santana because within seconds the Latina was just as naked as Brittany and the blonde was straddling her groin.

She bent down and kissed Santana deeply as their tongues explored each others mouths. Backing out of the kiss and looking deeply into Santana's deep brown eyes she began trailing sloppy kisses down Santana's body as the Latina was now shaking with her own need to release.

Stopping at her desired destination directly above the Latina's center she wasted no time parting Santana's lips and diving in.

Santana was a mess at this point all it took was a couple strokes of the blonde's warm nimble tongue and she could feel her orgasm building to an intense high as her legs shook with anticipation.

Not realizing since she was experience such intense pleasure the blonde surprised her when she entered with two fingers as her tongue continued its onslaught on her clit.

That was all it took for Santana to tumble over the edge and thrust forward into Brittany face. She bucked forward a few more times while riding out her orgasm as Brittany cleaned the Latina of her release.

Once satisfied that she got it all Brittany crawled back up Santana's body and place a soft easy kiss to the Latina's lips. Santana was drained, so Brittany ended up doing most of the work in this kiss before gently lying on the Latina's chest feeling the rise and fall of Santana breast.

Santana enjoyed the feeling of Brittany's weight on top of her so she brought her arms up to tighten the embrace. They held each other like that for a long time; neither speaking just enjoying the moment.

Slowly, they both drifted off to sleep for the first time since receiving the news about their friend as they momentarily put their sadness aside knowing that it would return full force when they awoke.

**AN: Okay… what to say about that! I'm not gonna lie I was more than a little embarrassed as I wrote this chapter especially coming from a guys perspective, it just seemed entirely too intimate to write. Maybe it's cause I'm a rookie, but I actually consider not posting this because it felt too personal towards the couple. Who knows…? I hope I'm wrong and people like it.**

**I'm really anxious to see what people have to say, so please, pretty please review I'm a nervous nelly about this chapter! Also, I'm kind of considering ending here so if you want me to continue you're gonna have to tell me in the reviews because the feed back has been lacking lately I'm not really sure who is still reading. I still have lot of ideas for future chapters but if people aren't reading I minus well put those ideas into a new story. **

**Take care as always and let me know what you want me to do. I guess if I don't hear anything I know my answer. Either way I've really enjoyed writing this story and I hope anyone that has read this has too. Thanks!**


	8. Only Time Will Tell

**AN: Well I'm back… I hope this is good news and everyone is happy that I have decided to continue with this story, it is definitely in part thanks to the great response the last chapter received; you guys are awesome. But I will say I never realized until I started writing how important reviews are to authors. The only way and author (especially non established authors) knows people are still reading since most alerts come early on in stories is to hear a review. So if you like this or any other story on this site send the author a quick review it will make their day. I know I'm gonna make more of an effort to review the great stories I have been reading. So a big thank you to the readers who have reviewed, favorited and alerted me and the story it has been wonderful to see the positive response this story has got. I really am very grateful to everyone who is reading! So thank you again and I hope you enjoy the update**

**Also, no fluffy flashback again, sorry to say, we gotta get through this dark period Artie's death has caused an then I will get back to the fluff. I promise it will be soon!**

**Disclaimer: The mistakes are mine and glee unfortunately is not.**

Only Time Will Tell

Three days after receiving the sad news about Artie; Santana and Brittany were pulling into the driveway at the Lopez house in Lima Ohio. It had been and emotionally exhausting three days. Between running around making preparations to fly back to Ohio, trying to help her wife deal with her grief and trying to explain death to Anthony; Santana was beat. She had talked with her mom about watching the kids while she and Brittany were at the funeral and her mom had easily accepted.

After explaining to Anthony why Mommy was so upset and trying to explain death to the four year old, which she was fairly certain she had done a horrible job at by the way, Anthony had become extremely clingy not wanting to be away from his parents for even an instant. Santana knew and was dreading leaving her parents house because she just knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

She was right; when Santana announced to her son they were leaving to go to the funeral Anthony came running at Santana in hysterics. He was sobbing so hard it was nearly impossible to understand what he was trying to say while his little body quaked and cried out in agony. Santana picked him up as his little arms wrapped tightly around her neck practically strangling her in the process. "Hey…" she whispered trying to get is attention while taking a short moment to compose herself "we'll be right back I promise" she said as her heart broke for her crying son. All the while Brittany stood to the side observing her son's sorrow and her wife's attempt at soothing the little boy with a sad vacant look on her face.

Anthony's grip finally loosened enough for Santana to pull back to look the boy in the eye "I promise we'll be back soon" she said as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

"NO" he cried out "Please Mami, don't go…I don't want you to die" he said as he buried his face in Santana neck effectively soaking her shirt with his tears.

That was all it took; the tears started to build behind her eyes as Santana came to the gut wrenching realization that Anthony thought if they left it meant they were going to die. God I suck at this thought the Latina, how in my explanation of death did I somehow manage to make him believe this.

Santana gently put Anthony on the ground while quickly taking a glance at her wife and parents with pleading and desperate eyes hoping someone would help her. Brittany just starred back at the Latina with tears in her eyes and Santana's parents were of no help as well considering they both looked like they were going to lose it too. Her mom had this look on her face as if she was saying; this is all you mi hija, you have to handle this… I know you can do it.

Allowing her mothers faith to sink in, Santana finally steadied herself enough to continue as she looked at her son who was still crying big crocodile tears. She slowly began although she really had no idea how to make the boy understand; I mean hell she was having a hard enough time understanding herself.

She hesitated a moment and attempted to wipe the still free flowing tears off Anthony's soft cheeks "I'm so sorry I made you think if we left it meant we were going to die. It's certainly not what I meant" Santana said in the sweetest voice she was capable of.

Thinking for a moment on how to word this so he would understand she slowly began with recalling something he could identify with "Do you remember when Mommy or I drop you off at day care and you don't see us for a little while?" she said hoping he would make the connection between the two events.

"Yeah…" he said as his lip quivered and shoulders shook violently from crying

"That's all this is going to be." Santana continued while laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder "You're gonna stay here and play with abuela" she said gesturing towards her mother " and just like when your at day care in a few hours Mommy and I will be back" she said with a smile hoping that would do the trick.

"You're sure your not going to heaven?" Anthony questioned through his hiccupping as a few lingering tears continued to fall

"I'm sure…" she said emphatically "Mommy and I are just going to say goodbye to our friend and then we'll be back; I promise" she said while leaning over to give the boy a tight hug and hoping he would understood they were not in fact going to heaven.

This seemed to ease the boys mind somewhat because slowly he began to calm down.

Mrs. Lopez was proud of her daughter; seeing how she handled herself and what a loving relationship she had with her son, Mrs. Lopez felt a huge sense of pride rising knowing how much her daughter had grown over the last several years. Mrs. Lopez briefly caught Santana's gaze over the shoulder of the small boy and mouthed "Good job" to her daughter who responded with a slight smile of thanks.

XXXXXXXXXX

The car ride to the funereal home was quiet. Santana was a little disappointed that Brittany made no effort to try and help Anthony understand. She knew that Brittany was sad, but Anthony needed them right now to be his parents and right now Brittany couldn't see past her own grief enough to realize what she was missing. Santana knew there might have to be a conversation about this sooner or later, but it was certainly not a conversation she wanted to have. I hope Britt can shake this soon she thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

The funeral had been much of the same, anyone that didn't know Brittany probably wouldn't have known anything was seriously wrong. She was quiet, but not too quiet, but Santana knew differently, something was definitely wrong and apparently Quinn noticed as well. Santana was making herself a drink; a drink that she sure as hell needed at this point when Quinn quietly approached "Hey Satan" she said sarcastically

Santana huffed and responded flatly "Probably not the best joke at a funeral Q"

Quinn had to admit Santana was probably right although at certain times in her life she didn't necessarily think the term Satan when referring to Santana was a joke. Deciding to change the subject Quinn asked "So how are you doin?"

Santana continued to fix her drink trying to appear as normal as possible and avoid a conversation she really didn't want to have "I've been better" she responded "how bout you?" the Latina asked trying to steer the conversation away for herself.

"About the same" Quinn responded sadly "Finn and I used to see Artie all the time… so it hasn't been easy" she said with a shrug "How's Brittany taking the news?"

And there it was… the topic that Santana really didn't want to get into especially here and now. "She's okay" Santana responded trying to appear nonchalant "sad… but okay" hoping that would do the trick to put an end to this topic.

"Don't patronize me Santana Lopez I know you both too well." Said the former head cheerleader who was obviously too smart for her own good "I see the way you both are acting; trying to appear as normal as possible" Quinn stated "but I can see the hurt in both of your eyes." She said continuing while completely ignoring Santana silent plea's to halt this conversation

"You both are hurting; it would be foolish to ignore that." Quinn stated obviously

Deciding there was no use trying to fight this conversation any longer Santana reluctantly responded "I don't know what I can do to help her…" she said with a look of defeat "She loved Artie so much… and I just can't seem to get through to her. I've tried talking to her; I've tried sleeping with her…"

"Whoa Lopez… too much information" Quinn responded with disgust cutting Santana off

"My God Q… don't be such a prude! You do know that Brittany and I have sex. Hell, you even walked in on us that one time." Santana said with a slight hint of a smirk

"Yeah… and unfortunately it's been burned into my brain ever since; so I don't exactly need a reminder." Quinn said hoping that would be the end of this diversion from the original topic

Trying to steer the conversation back on track and to one that wouldn't scar her for life Quinn stated "Maybe you don't have to be the one that helps her through this; maybe you can't help her"

Now Santana was offended how dare she doubt what Santana could or couldn't do for her wife.

"Quinn I'm about to go Lima Heights on your ass, you better treed carefully" responded the Latina with a slight tilt of her head as anger was starting to rise

"Simmer down…" Quinn responded putting her hands up in defense "all I'm saying is… you have the best cure for any feelings of sadness, and they are those two beautiful children of yours. The day after Finn and I heard the news, Finn was a mess. He wouldn't talk, he wouldn't eat, he wouldn't do anything except sit alone in the dark and I for the life of me had no clue what to do to help him." Quinn stated reliving the painful moments after she and Finn had first heard the news.

"Abigail was so confused by Finn's actions, she had never seen her dad act like that; she spent hours just staring at him trying to make sense of the way Finn was acting. Finally, after about 36 hours of silence from Finn she just walked over to him and climbed in his lap and snuggled with him. It was adorable and it happened to be the first reaction I saw from Finn in almost two days. They both sat together for hours and the longer they sat the more at ease I saw Finn become; he's been better ever since" Quinn said optimistically

"I have no doubt that you could get Brittany through this, I mean look at all the two of you have been through, but kids can be a great source of comfort, I mean it worked on Finn" she said with a shrug "so why not give it a try." Quinn stated signally the end of her sage advice

"Maybe your right…" Santana said resigning herself to the fact that maybe Quinn might have a point "I'll see what I can do to encourage Britt to spend time with the kids. Thanks Q…" Santana said gratefully

"You know… you're not as dumb as people say you are" Santana said trying to cover up her soft spot that she had just revealed to Quinn

Quinn rolled her eyes "Once a bitch always a bitch" she said as they both laughed in response

XXXXXXXXXXX

Before saying goodbye to everyone Quinn and Finn had offered to have the entire glee club back to there house tomorrow for a barbeque that would hopefully have a more joyful undertone than their unfortunate reunion today. Everyone graciously accepted and promised to see each other tomorrow before everyone slowly said their goodbyes to leave.

On the way back to Santana's parents house the Latina tried to engage Brittany in some small talk about their friends or about the changes that had taken place in Lima since the last time they had been home with very little luck.

Upon entering her parents home Anthony quickly came running up to his parents practically tackling Brittany since she apparently wasn't prepared for the collision.

After Anthony finally reigned in his relief after seeing that his parents did in fact return he quickly realized he left the game he was playing with his abuelo unattended and quickly ran back to finish, thus giving Santana and Brittany a few minutes to go get changed.

Brittany was still deep within her own mind drowning in her grief that even Santana prancing in front of her half naked didn't distracted her from her sadness. Upon coming back downstairs Santana began to think of ways to encourage Brittany to spend time with the kids without being to pushy about it.

Presently, Santana was holding Emily who was enjoying the attention from her mom and grandmother while Anthony was playing by himself on the floor with his trucks. Brittany and Mr. Lopez were watching TV in the other room and Santana decided this might be a good opportunity to test the waters so she called Anthony over to speak with him.

"Hey buddy, did you have fun today with Abuela and Abuelo?' she asked

"Yeah" he said excitedly "We played games and I won every time"

Santana smiled at how excited he was and she knew her parents had fallen for those same beautiful blue eyes and let him win just like she always did.

"That's great buddy…why don't you go tell Mommy how much fun you had… I think she's still a little sad and I'm sure it will make her fell better to know you had fun." Santana said hoping that Brittany wouldn't turn the boy away and hurt his feelings

"Okay mami" Anthony said as he excitedly ran over to Brittany in that cute little kid style run that made Santana chuckle as she watched him run away.

Santana unfortunately couldn't hear what was said between Anthony and her wife, but she did notice that Brittany picked the boy up as he gestured wildly obviously explaining some story that he was very excited about. After they had talked for a little while Anthony came strolling back into the kitchen in the hopes of getting a snack from his grandmother.

"Hey…" Santana said getting Anthony's attention "how did your talk with mommy go… did you make her feel better?" Santana asked trying to get some answers since she couldn't hear what had been said

"I don't know" he said shrugging his little shoulders not really understanding what the big deal was "but guess what…?" he said with a big smile "Mommy and I are going to go to the park after dinner to feed the ducks; she said the ducks are the same here as the ducks we have back home… Do you and Emily want to come too?" he asked sweetly

Santana smiled at her son's excitement and kindness "No, that's okay… why don't you and Mommy go by yourself, I think Mommy would really like that" Santana said with a smile

Anthony happily scampered off to tell Mrs. Lopez the exciting news while she was starting to prepare dinner.

Santana smiled at her son's obvious joy while glancing back to her wife who was still sitting on the sofa watching TV. Santana thought she noticed Brittany's shoulders were a little more upright than they were a few moments ago and she hoped that her plan had worked. Only time will tell thought the Latina, as she went back to lightly tickling her daughter who appeared to be glad to have the attention back on her. Only time will tell.

**AN: Okay I'm nervous… I fear I may have alienated four very large fandoms in this chapter by choosing to put Quinn and Finn together. I honestly don't like them together either, but after seeing Quinn and Rachel talk while they were writing an original song I felt like Quinn would end up staying in Lima and all of her various suitors would not (ie. Puck, Sam, and Rachel) so that left Finn who I never thought would get out of Lima as the clear winner despite two failed relationship attempts. I hope I'm wrong and people don't get turned off by that; it really will be a very small part to this story. I hope that helps ease the Faberry, Finchel, Quick, and Quam fans minds, besides you never know I might throw a bone to a couple of those fandoms eventually.**

**Next chapter will be a little different it will be from Brittany's POV. Also, it might be a little longer between updates since I am going on vacation next week. I hope I can update at some point during that time but I make no promises.**

**I'm trying to outline the upcoming chapter and since I will be back to the fluffy stuff soon I was wonder what parts of Santana and Brittany's past you want to be explored. Maybe flashbacks with how they initially became a couple, coming out to their parents, their wedding, honeymoon, Brittany's career, etc.; what do you guys want to see? Let me know**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Revelations

**AN: Well this is an early July 4****th**** gift. I didn't think I would be able to post until after the holiday so be sure to be grateful in your reviews ;)**

**Thank you again to everyone that is reviewing and reading I really am blown away at the positive response this story has got. Thank you and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Glee is not mine despite owning the dvd box set**

Revelations

The last bite of food was barely in Brittany's mouth before she felt a gentle tug on her shorts "Let's go see the ducks Mommy" said the little voice of her son who was bursting with excitement standing along side the table

Brittany looked to her son whose excitement could barely be contained "Just give me a few minutes to let my food settle and then we can go" Brittany said while smiling half heartedly at her son

Everyone watched the little boys shoulders practically dropped to the floor in disappointment as he reluctantly walked back to play with his trucks.

Santana cast a questioning look towards Brittany who didn't even notice all the eyes at the table suddenly shift in her direction. It wasn't like Brittany to hesitate when going to see the ducks and everyone knew it; maybe I was wrong earlier when I thought she was showing signs of improvement thought Santana.

Not even a minute later Anthony came running back into the kitchen ready to go "Are you ready now Mommy?" Anthony asked hopefully

Everyone in the kitchen laughed slightly at Anthony's abbreviated time table which clearly showed how eager he was; it probably had felt like a few minutes to him since he was so anxious. The only one not laughing at Anthony's cuteness was Brittany she just sighed and slowly stood from the table almost looking as if she was being led to the gallows.

Santana grimaced in response to the signals Brittany was giving off; not wanting to go see the ducks, not smiling at Anthony's cuteness; this is so unlike her thought the Latina. Nothing ever upsets Brittany for more than like five minutes she thought, but then again Brittany did lose someone she had once loved… and she was trying to get back to normal, maybe getting back to doing things that normally made her happy will help. At least I hope it does sighed the Latina

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_Brittany's POV_

It had been a long time since Brittany had walked this familiar route to get to the park. Santana and I must have walked this path hundreds of times over the years. Brittany knew Santana couldn't have cared less about going to see the ducks, but she never once complained. Santana was a good friend and an even better wife and mother thought Brittany. Brittany was deep within her mind when she glanced down at her son who was walking about as fast as his little legs could carry him and for the first time since Artie's death she smiled a genuine smile. It felt good to smile again thought the blonde, but as she did a wave of guilt washed over her. How can I be happy when three days ago one of my best friends was killed she thought. Realizing her mistake Brittany quickly dropped the smile and once again became a sad panda as she continued the walk to the park.

They entered through the park gate hand in hand as Anthony eagerly dragged Brittany deeper into the park. Scanning the area Brittany thought time could have stood still because the only difference was there appeared to be a new addition to the old playground but other than that this place looked exactly the same.

"So what do you want to do first?" Brittany asked "feed the ducks or play on the playground?"

"DUCKS…" he said with a big toothy grin while jumping up and down

A slight smile appeared in spite of herself as she watched her son bounce up and down with excitement. "The pond is this way" she said as she took Anthony's hand to lead him in the right direction.

Anthony spotted the pond as it barely came into view as they rounded a large area of pine trees and as soon as he did he released his mom's hand and took off running.

"Hey, wait for me" Brittany yelled as she started to jog slowly after the excited toddler.

When Brittany finally caught up to Anthony at the waters edge he was bending over trying to pick up a baby chick that was lying in the grass.

As his small hands reach out to grab the chick Brittany yell "WAIT…" which startled the boy as he jumped and turned to look at his mother with wide eyes. He looked almost scared as Brittany closed the distance between them

"Sorry buddy, but you can't pick them up… you'll scare them and they might bite you if they get scared" Brittany said sweetly trying to protect the boy from injury

Anthony looked saddened by this news and Brittany hated to see her son upset "Why don't you give the ducks some of the bread we brought… they look pretty hungry" she said trying to raise his spirits and distract him from his disappointment after not being able to pick up the cute baby chick.

Brittany handed Anthony a clump of bread as he walked closer to the waters edge

"Not too close Anthony…" Brittany said protectively as he stepped closer and closer to the water. He squatted down and gently started throwing the bread into the water so the ducks would come closer. Slowly, the ducks happily started to swim and quack their way over to where Anthony had thrown the bread.

Anthony turned around very happy with himself and smiled brightly at his mom. Before Brittany even knew what was happening a big smile appeared on her own face before the thought could even surface to pull it back.

Brittany and Anthony happily enjoyed the splashing and quacking ducks until Brittany heard a loud scream coming from the direction of the play ground. She quickly stood from her position next to Anthony and took a couple curious steps in the direction of the scream. She thought for a moment about investigating the scream further since it had sounding like a child in some serious pain, but before she could entertain that thought further she heard a horde of quacking and splashing coming from behind her as Anthony took off running away from the pond.

His little legs were running as fast as he could in the direction of the slide about 50 feet away as a very large and pissed off duck followed on his heals.

Brittany seeing her son's eyes full of fear went into protective mode as she quickly started chasing after her son and the irate duck. Anthony reached the slide and started to climb the slope of the slippery aluminum slide in an attempt to get away for his attacker which obviously wasn't the best plan since he was starting to slide back down the slide in the direction of the awaiting Momma duck. Brittany grabbed him as he continued to slide downward just in the nick of time before he could reach the bottom and the awaiting angry bird. Brittany shooed the duck away as she shielded and held her scared son tight to her chest and after a few moments the duck grew tired of the confrontation and slowly began to waddle back to the pond.

Brittany lowered her son back to stand on the ground as she looked him in the eyes "You tried to pick up the baby chick after I told you not too… didn't you?" questioned Brittany with a stern look

Anthony thought for a minute as Brittany continued to stare him down if he could cover this up "But mom" he said looking as adorable as possible. Brittany silently thought I know that look as she furrowed her brow in thought. Santana gives that same look when she wants to avoid a disagreement "the chick asked me to pick him up… his mom should be mad at him… not at me" he said with an honest and slightly confused look.

Brittany thought about Anthony's reason for picking the chick up and on more than a few occasions she had talked with animals so it was entirely possible Anthony had the gift as well. "It's okay…" she said with a sigh "I'm not mad… you just scared me is all" she continued as she began to relax "but Anthony if I tell you not to do something it doesn't matter if someone else tells you differently you still need to listen to me" she said trying to channel Santana's parental bad cop.

"You can't pick the chick's up… their Mommy will get scared just like I would if some stranger tried to pick you or Emily up" Brittany said trying to make Anthony understand so this wouldn't happen again.

Anthony looked to the ground shamefully as he noticed his mom's unusually stern tone "I'm sowry Mommy" he said

"Hey" Brittany said as she gently placed her fingers under Anthony's soft little chin tilting his head upward "I'm just trying to protect you when I tell you not to do something… I don't want you to get hurt" she said looking into Anthony's piercing blue eyes and reverting back to her normal sweet good cop style.

Anthony had never been one to dwell on the negative so it came as no surprise when Brittany watched his guilt dissipate before her very eyes as the gears starting to turn once again obviously coming up with his next new scheme. "Do you think we can get a duck to come live with us… this way I can pick him up whenever I want?" he asked cheerfully

Brittany smiled involuntarily for the forth time today at Anthony's quick rebound from guilt to excitement in a matter of seconds as she momentary got excited at the prospect of having a duck for a pet. In fact Brittany had asked Santana a few times that very same question with unfortunately no luck up to this point. The mother in her was trying to kick back in after briefly entertaining the thought of having a duck for a pet as she said "Maybe if you stay out of trouble for awhile Mami and I will think about getting a pet duck." At least that will give the little trouble maker some incentive to behave for at least awhile she thought.

"Okay Mommy… I'll be good" Anthony said excitedly thinking he had a shot at getting a pet duck. He hugged his mom quickly before running over to the jungle jim to play on the slide.

Brittany watched her son happily climb, swing, and play in the sand box as her mind drifted back to her grief and a time she had come to this very same place with a very different boy.

_**Flashback-**__ April 2012_

_Today was the day she was going to tell Artie that her and Santana were officially a couple. Brittany had walked to the park after meeting at Santana's house for a little motivational pep talk from the Latina. She knew this was something that had to be done and she wanted to be honest with Artie, but it still hurt knowing she was going to hurt him._

_It had been months of pushing and pulling between Artie and Santana when Brittany finally realized that she was just scared; scared of giving into her feelings for Santana and Santana getting spooked again and reverting back to her sex isn't date mindset._

_Brittany knew Santana had changed and she was doing everything she could to prove to Brittany that she could be a good girlfriend, but Brittany still couldn't shake the years of hurt feelings and neglect Santana's behavior had caused. She was scared so this was a big step; one that she was finally ready to take._

_So as Brittany walked through the park gate she scanned the area looking for the boy in the wheel chair. She finally spotted Artie sitting next to the park bench alongside the playground. It's now or never she thought as she walked in Artie's direction._

"_Hey Brittany" he said with a goofy smile as she sat down next to him on the bench_

"_Hey" she said weakly_

_Artie noticeably frowned at the blondes unusual mood "Is everything okay… you look kinda sad?" he asked_

"_Well…" she hesitated as she began playing with her hands nervously in her lap "I have something I need to tell you" she said trying to maintain her courage "You're not going to like it…"_

_His face now mirrored her own because he now visibly looked nervous "just say it Britt…"he said with a look of uncertainty as he looked Brittany in the eyes_

_Brittany was still playing with her hands in her lap hoping this would help her avoid looking into his sad eyes and hold onto her resolve "Santana and I have decided we want to be a couple" she said deciding to just rip off the band aid so she wouldn't prolonging the pain_

_Artie stared at her for a moment before his eyes fell and his head dropped into his hands "Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked while looking at his feet_

_Brittany sighed knowing how much this was hurting him "Yes… this is what I want" she said with conviction and a hint of sadness_

_He sat for a few moments with his head still in his hands as Brittany held her breath not knowing what would come next. At this point she just wanted to get out of here and out of this awkward situation._

"_You're really honestly sure this is what you want…?" he asked again weakly "she can make you happy?"_

_Brittany sighed knowing how hard this was for him "Artie I know this is hurting you…," she said sympathetically "but I've been in love with Santana for as long as I can remember… and its not that I didn't love you too… because I did and still do… its just I need to follow my heart… and my heart is telling me it wants to be with Santana" she said finishing and finally looking him in the eye_

_Artie sighed deeply trying to control his emotions and find the right words that would convince Brittany to change her mind. He thought long and hard for the right words and unfortunately over a time period of who knows how long the right words never came. Probably because deep down he always knew this day would come._

_Brittany just sat there and stared while Artie appeared to be deep in thought _

"_Well" he said tentatively "I guess there is nothing I can do to change your mind" he continued voicing his thoughts out loud as he finally raised his head to look at Brittany once again._

_Brittany shook her head side to side sadly and reaffirmed "No… there's not"_

_Finally, for the first time since Brittany sat down the two former lovers looked into each others eyes as they both felt the loss of something that had been exactly what they both had needed for quite some time._

"_Brittany…" he said just above a whisper "I just want you to be happy… and if Santana can do that for you, I'm not gonna stand in your way"_

_Brittany was a little confused by Artie's comment which had distracted her from the deeper meaning behind what the boy was saying "but Artie I thought you couldn't stand?" the blonde questioned seriously confused_

"_No Brittany…" he said shaking his head "that's a figure of speech. It just means that if you want to be with Santana I'm not going to do anything to keep you from what you want"_

_The misunderstanding luckily seemed to have lightened the mood because they both smiled weakly at each other for the first time_

"_You better tell Santana she better not fuck it up or she is gonna be hit full force with the weight of the battering ram that is my wheel chair" he said trying to keep the mood light even though his heart was breaking on the inside_

_Brittany laughed a little at his statement "I will" she said with a smile as she slowly stood up from the bench getting ready to leave._

_Artie made no attempt to move from his spot and Brittany silently thought he probably needed a little time to process this information_

_As she was starting to turn to walk away Artie spoke causing her to stop in her tracks _

"_I'm gonna miss you" he said sadly "Please just be happy"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Brittany sat on the park bench almost in shock. That memory felt so real… almost like Artie was right there next to her telling her to be happy. She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts as she looked to Anthony who was happily climbing the steps up the slide.

She thought back to Artie's words as she watched Anthony slide down the slide and quickly run back around to do it again. Artie wanted her to be happy even then; even when his heart was breaking. He was thinking about my feelings… when really he wanted a very different outcome. He was putting me first…

It was like a bolt of lightning hit her as her eyes drooped shut and her hands came up to her face… I've been so selfish she thought. What am I doing? I've been miserable for the past three days in part because I thought that is what Artie would want, but that's not what he would want at all. He has always just wanted me to be happy despite whatever sacrifices he needed to make.

I'm such a fool she thought shaking her head. I need to move on because that is what Artie would want for me. He wants me to be happy.

Just then Anthony came jogging up, his face as red as a cherry tomato "Mommy… can we get some ice cream from the ice cream truck before we go home?"

Brittany smiled for the first time without guilt as she bent over to hug Anthony. Anthony was a little surprised by the embrace and a little impatient since his mom didn't answer his question. "Well… can we?" he asked again into his mom's shoulder

Brittany giggled in response "sure…" she said pulling away "we can get some ice cream for the walk back to abuela's" and for the first time in three day's her joy was guilt free.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had been a long emotional day between traveling, the funeral and her revelation. So when Brittany finally walked into the guest room at the Lopez house she felt like she had been to hell and back. Even though she felt extremely tired she also felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It felt good to be getting back to her old self. She was still sad at the lose of her friend and she knew she always would, but that didn't mean she had to make herself and everyone around her miserable. It was time to get back to living.

Upon entering the tastefully decorated guest room Brittany noticed Santana lying in bed reading a book. Santana's head immediately looked up from her book to take in the person who had just walked through the door.

Santana appeared hesitant and nervous and Brittany silently kicked herself because she knew her behavior had caused that reaction.

"Hey" she said meekly "How did your date with Anthony go?"

Brittany smiled "We had fun… he reminds me so much of you"

Santana noticed the difference in Brittany's tone immediately and on top of that she could see the smile in Brittany's previously sad blue eyes. The corner of the Latina's mouth optimistically turned up as she took in the sight of her wife readying herself for bed.

"I'm glad you had fun… It's nice to see your beautiful smile again" Santana said as she put her book down and climbed off the bed to make her way over to Brittany.

Brittany felt strong arms wrap around her waist as she was engulfed in Santana's warmth. "I was starting to get worried about you" Santana said into Brittany's ear

Brittany slowly turned around in Santana's arms and looked lovingly at her wife "Don't worry… it will give you wrinkles" Brittany said jokingly as she lightly tapped her finger to Santana's cute nose.

Brittany went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and upon her return slowly lower her tired body into the warm bed. She crawled close to her wife and lowered her head to rest on the Latina's chest as their arms and legs intertwined with one another. They laid together both enjoying the comfort of have the other women close. After a few moments of content silence Brittany abruptly spoke "O… I almost forgot… we might have to get a pet duck" she said with a knowing smile

"WHAT?" questioned Santana

"Just thought I'd let you know" she responded as she tucked her body closer to her wife and smiled mischievously.

**AN: I have to admit I had a little trouble thinking and writing from Brittany's POV so if its hard to follow because I occasionally slipped into someone else's POV I'm sorry (rookie mistakes). **

**To everyone state side Happy 4****th**** of July since I probably won't get to update again until after the holiday; to much partying to do (and by partying I mean drinking and drunk writing is probably not a good thing since I have a hard enough time sober).**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always please, please, please review.**

**Thanks and take care**


	10. Then to Now

**AN: Well I'm finally back after my binge of a long weekend for the 4****th**** of July holiday. I would have got this chapter out yesterday if not from an extreme hangover. So… sorry for the wait and I hope this chapter makes up for the unusually long wait between chapters. I know I had fun writing this chapter so I hope you enjoy reading it as well. Plus, it's slightly longer than the other chapters as a reward for your patience.**

**Enjoy and thanks for reading and reviewing as always!**

**Disclaimer: O to hell with it!**

Then to Now

Santana slowly opened her still very heavy eyes to find bright sunlight streaming in through the open window. The sun appeared to be high in the sky judging from the amount of light shining through and she could hear the peaceful sounds of summer in the distance. This was the first night since Artie's death that her sleep had not been interrupted by Brittany's constant wiggling and readjusting in the middle of the night.

It was then that Santana felt subtle pressure being placed into the back of her neck. Brittany was awake and she was nuzzling comfortably into Santana's back with one arm and leg thrown protectively over Santana's body. Santana half expected a small whimper or sniffle to come from the blonde behind her since that was the sound she had awoken to the last few days, but instead a small approving moan escaped from Brittany to Santana's delight.

"Morning" Brittany said into the back of Santana's head

"Morning to you too" Santana replied while wiggling in closer to her wife.

Brittany responded by tightening her hold on the Latina not allowing Santana to even think about trying to break free; not that Santana wanted to.

"How'd you sleep?" Santana asked softly

"mmm… great" Brittany cooed into Santana's ear " I have the best cuddle buddy in the world to wrap myself around"

Santana breathed a content sigh knowing that Brittany finally seemed to be moving past the worst of her grief. Although, the term cuddle buddy almost made her cringe.

"Cuddle buddy?" she question wrinkling her nose "Don't you mean smokin hot or bad ass?"

Brittany giggled into Santana's neck cause the vibration to pleasurably travel down her spine. "You are a bad ass and definitely smoking hot" Brittany responded while playfully slapping Santana's butt "but right now you are my cuddle buddy"

Santana rolled her eyes but laughed happily as she turned to face Brittany. Santana raised her hand to gently stroke Brittany's soft cheek. "You know I'll be your cuddle buddy whenever you want" she said looking into Brittany's bright blue eyes with sincerity as she leaned in for a short kiss.

"Good…" Brittany said pulling back "because I don't feel like leaving this spot anytime soon" she said with a smile in her eyes as she leaned in for another kiss.

They laid in bed for awhile gently caressing their partners bodies, gazing deeply into each others eyes and whispering sweet terms of endearment before in dawned on Santana how late it had to be. She looked to her watch and was stunned to find out it was after 11:00am.

"O my God Britt… you're not going to believe what time it is?"

"What?" she said as she was preoccupied with a few strands of Santana's hair

"It's after 11:00…"

"Are you serious?" Brittany questioned with a shocked smile

"Yeah… I guess we really needed the sleep." She responded smiling back "I'm surprised Anthony hasn't come bursting into the room yet."

"Your parents are probably trying to squeeze in as much time with the kids as possible since they don't get to see them that often"

"You're probably right…, but" Santana hesitated briefly before continuing "I talked with my mom a little last night while you were at the park with Anthony about how hard the last few days have been on us… and on you" Santana said as she looked nervously down slightly scared how Brittany would respond to her telling her mom about Brittany's private struggle "she's probably just trying to be thoughtful and let us sleep in" she continued hoping to defuse the potential situation "I hope that's okay?" Santana asked

"Of coarse it's okay…" Brittany said not really understanding why Santana thought it was a big deal "I don't mind you talking to your mom about that…, but if you ever tell your mom about those times we did it in her bed I will be a very angry panda" she said tilting her one eyebrow up playfully "and you know what happens when I'm an angry panda…" she continued "No sweet lady kisses for you…" Brittany said leaning in to kiss Santana lightly

Santana chuckled lightly and thanked God silently that Brittany's sense of humor had returned.

"I promise I will never tell my mom about how you took advantage of her sweet daughter in her house and in her very own bed" Santana said with a cocky grin

"Took advantage… my ass" Brittany responded in mock surprise "I think you're confusing what we could say to **my** parents should we tell them what we did in **their** bed."

Santana let out a deep laugh knowing that Brittany was probably right. "You know me too well" Santana said bringing in Brittany for another kiss.

Santana reluctantly broke the kiss after a few moments and said "we should probably head downstairs before my parents send out a search party for us."

"Yeah… I guess your right" Brittany said sadly "what time do we have to be at Quinn's today for the barbeque?"

"It starts at 1:00pm… so around then I guess" Santana responded while finally moving to get out of bed.

Brittany grabbed Santana's hand before she could completely get out of bed "Thank you" she said looking at Santana

"For what?" questioned the Latina out of confusion

"For being so great" Brittany said adoringly

Santana smiled and leaned back in to lightly peck Brittany's lips "You make it easy" she said smiling and rising from the bed to get dressed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Santana and Brittany arrived at the Hudson house with Anthony and Emily in tow about thirty minutes late thanks to their late start this morning.

"Mami… who's house is this?" Anthony questioned looking up at Santana curiously

"Some friends of Mommy and I live here with their daughter Abigail." Santana responded looking down at Anthony "I think Abigail is about your age" she continued hoping the two toddlers could entertain each other.

Anthony wrinkled his nose in response and Santana knew he was thinking eww not another girl.

Santana felt the need to raise his spirits after the Abigail plan didn't have the desired effect "Uncle Puck and Uncle Sam will be here too, you can probably play with them"

That seemed to do the trick because Anthony broke into a big grin in response. They walked slowly around the back following the sound of music. "O God... is that Berry?" Santana asked with a look of dread adorning her face in response to the music being heard.

Brittany chuckled "Yeah… I think it is"

"Great" Santana said exaggerating the word "its gonna be that kind of party" she continued while rolling her eyes in response to Rachel's singing.

Brittany giggled again at Santana's short fuse when it came to the tiny diva. "Your Mami is so silly" Brittany said talking to Emily who she was holding in her arms as they walked towards the back yard.

They walked out and were greeted by a slightly tipsy and excited Quinn "I thought you stood us up?" question the tiny blonde

"No" Brittany responded "Just moving a little slow today"

"Well you're here now… that's what matters" she said looking at the cute family. "Let me see this precious little girl of yours?" she said reaching out to Emily "may I?" she asked

"Sure" Brittany responded as she passed Emily over to Quinn's awaiting hands.

"If you drop my daughter little miss tipsy… you and I are gonna throw down Mrs. Hudson" Santana stated aggressively, but Quinn barely noticed the Latina's venom since she was so preoccupied with the cute baby.

Quinn started speaking in baby speak to the happy girl as Emily smiled and giggled

happily at the stranger in response.

"She's adorable" Quinn said passing Emily back to Brittany "Good thing she looks like Brittany" Quinn continued smiling slyly at Santana having noticed her previous comment.

"Funny..." Santana said looking at Quinn who appeared to be very amused by her own joke. "And you guys call me the bitch?" she said as she started walking hand in hand with Anthony towards Puck.

Most of the guys were huddled around the grill drinking their beers. Santana figured Anthony would rather spend his time hang out with Puck and Sam verses with the bunch of girls that were huddling around Brittany trying to get a peak at Emily and frankly Santana thought… so would I.

"Hey guys" Santana said walking up to the group as she hugged Finn, Mike and Blaine "Can Anthony hang out with you guys for awhile I think he is on estrogen overload with all those girls?' she said gesturing to the women who were babygasming at Emily's cuteness.

Puck cringed at the sight of the girls "My God…" he said wrinkling his nose "We can't subject him to that" he continued reaching out his fist to Anthony to give him a fist bump.

The guys and Santana bull shitted back and forth about nothing in particular for awhile as Sam and Finn played catch with a very happy Anthony. Meanwhile, the girls finally returned to their normal speaking voices after the cute baby glow slowly wore off and Santana thought it might be safe to go back over and say hi to everyone else now that the baby speak was over. She excused herself from the guys at the grill and walked over to greet everyone else.

"SANTANA" Rachel said excitedly with a hint of a slur as Santana walked towards the group.

She never could hold her liquor Santana thought as she continued to walk towards the girls "BERRY" Santana responded faking excitement and mocking the diva enthusiasm

Rachel either chose to ignore Santana's jab or she was totally oblivious to it since she was obviously a little drunk "Your daughter is sooo cute" she said directing it at Santana

"Wow Berry…" Santana stated "We finally found something we can agree on after 15 years" and at that Santana reached out to take Emily who was starting to get a little fussy in Tina's arms.

"Hey munchkin" she said kissing her daughter on her cheek and bouncing her happily in her arms. Emily appeared to calm down instantly with Santana's touch.

All the women minus Brittany looked at Santana and Emily sideways.

"Who are you and what have you done with the Santana Lopez we all know and love to hate?" Mercedes asked with a look of shock

Santana rolled her eyes in response as Brittany stood up to take Emily from Santana so she could give her a bottle.

"Don't worry Em…' Brittany stated talking to her daughter "They don't know your Mami like we do… do they?" she said trying to defend her wife

"So Mercedes…" Santana stated looking away from Brittany and Emily and deciding how to strike back "where is that cute guy of yours that I keep hearing so much about? Are you making up boyfriends again?" she said with a sly grin

"O kiss my big black booty Satan…" Mercedes countered with attitude and hands on her hips "he's at work… he couldn't get off" and at this all the women burst out laughing thinking some things never change.

The party continued with everyone reminiscing about old times and discussing their jobs and families as the drinks continued to flow. It was really smart of Quinn to invite Finn and Kurt's mom and dad to watch their granddaughter and the rest of the kids while their parents enjoyed their time and a few drinks with each other.

Santana looked around the gather of old friends and towards Brittany who appeared to be back to her old self again and smiled; Brittany was having fun and so was she despite comments to the contrary that no one believed anyway.

That was until the karaoke machine got brought up again. And the party was going so well thought the Latina sarcastically. Rachel sang Barbra Streisand of coarse while Blaine, Kurt, and Mercedes each sang songs as well. Santana watched as Mike secretly filmed all the routines hoping that someone would make a fool of themselves and they could all watch and laugh about it later. Unfortunately, that didn't happen; of course everyone had to sing beautifully thought Santana with slight regret.

After the concert was over everyone went back to their food, drinks and conversations. Quinn was still monopolizing Emily while she and Santana were quietly talking about Santana's job offer from fox when Finn approached.

"Hey baby…" Quinn said happily towards Finn "When can we have another one of these" gesturing towards Emily

"Great Santana…" he said looking miffed "Now all I'm gonna hear about is how we should have another baby"

Santana huffed "Please Finnocence… you should be so lucky" Santana responded snarky "you make sleeping with your wife sound like such a choir. I know your not as good as Puck… and won't knock her up the first time, so at the very least it will give you a little practice so you can improve on your one minute man status." She said sarcastically with an evil eye roll as Quinn's eye's bugged out of her head.

"O damn" Puck said laughing a few steps away at overhearing the conversation. Finn just stood there pouting like a big dumb statue.

Quinn piped in trying to defend her husband "Puck… you have no room to talk seeing as though we all know how well I remember our one night together" but failing since there was no mention of Finn sexual prowess only Puck's lack there of.

Santana was enjoying what her comment had started as she watched Puck and Quinn go back and forth as Brittany approached from behind to wrap her arms around Santana's waist.

"What are you guy's talking about?" Brittany asked over Santana's shoulder

Santana chuckled "about how bad Finn and Puck are in bed" she responded with a smirk

"Please Lopez" Puck stated "You know I'm amazing"

"Yeah… you both were so amazing I had to become a lesbian to block out the horrible memory." Santana stated bluntly "Lucky for me my wife is so amazing it totally made me forget about you two sexual misfits."

"That's right" Brittany announced happily accepting the praise as she kissed Santana's cheek.

"Damn Lopez… that's just cold" Puck said acting offended as he and Finn walking off in the direction of the food table.

"Sorry" Santana yelled after him "I just call it like I see it"

They all heard Puck mumble under his breath as he walked away "Well I've never had any complaints before" as the girls erupted in a fit of laughter

After the girls finally got their laughter under control Brittany asked the two women "Have you seen Anthony…? I haven't seen him in awhile"

The three former cheerios all scan the back yard and found Anthony and Abigail huddle together in the sand box. Anthony was helping Abigail build a sand castle as Abigail smiled and watched the boy try and pull the heavy bucket up to remove the hard packed sand.

"Awww" was said in unison as they took it the sight of their children playing together.

They all watched as Anthony noticed some sand he accidently flung at Abigail while trying to remove the bucket. He gently leaned in trying to wipe away the sand that landed on Abigail's face with his little sand covered hands. It was almost too cute for words as the ladies swooned watching Anthony be gentle with Abigail. "Ladies…" Quinn questioned with her brow high "I think your son is flirting with my daughter?"

"That's my boy" Santana announce with pride "He only picks the cute ones"

The three stood and watched the two blonde toddlers happily play together in the sand box a little longer before they overheard Rachel yell "O my… there is a hand print in the cake…" she shrieked as everyone turned to see what was going on "and sand too" she said frowning

Santana knew immediately who the culprit was. "Anthony…" she stated rather loudly

Instantly, Anthony's head shot up from what he was doing in the sand box recognizing that tone immediately.

"Come over here" Santana said motioning towards the table. "Did you stick your hand in the cake?" she asked as the boy finally made his way to the table

"Nooo…" he responded sheepishly

Out of no where Mike came walking towards the group "I think I may be able to solve this case" he said pulling out his phone and the video he took of Rachel singing The Way We Were

"Look in the background" he said instructing the group

Just as Rachel was belting out the first chorus Anthony came strolling into view behind the diva at the dessert table. He looked at the cake and licked his lips while he looked left and right to make sure no one was watching him. Once satisfied no one would see he quickly dove his hand into the cake and grabbed a handful of the dessert.

Santana watched as her eyes went wide as saucers. "And who might that little guy be?" she asked gesturing at the phone with a serious look on her face

"I've never seen that guy before in my life" Anthony stated with a straight face as he watched himself on the video.

The entire group burst out laughing including Santana who tried to suppress the laughter, but couldn't help it when it finally escaped. Once the laughter started to dissipate and Santana could think straight again she decided to try and pull Anthony aside later this way she didn't make a scene or ruin anyone's good time.

Puck was the first person to speak trying to cover for his little friend "Hey everyone… lay off Anthony" he said coming up and laying a protective hand on Anthony's shoulder "Even a seasoned criminal gets busted from time to time" he said leaning down in front of the boy to continue "but next time we need to make sure you don't leave any evidence… Okay?" he said smiling at the boy

Anthony just stood there looking embarrassed since most of the adults were still laughing slightly at his comment.

"Puck I swear to God… if you teach my son to steal ATM's I will cut you" Santana said as she motioned to her hair and the rumored razor blades

Puck held his hands up in surrender "I guess you're on your own buddy" he said patting Anthony on the back and walking back to his plate of food

Santana took Anthony's hand and led him inside the house so they could be alone to talk. "Anthony…" Santana said sitting him in the bar chair at the counter and sighing deeply "Tell me the truth… you stuck you hand in the cake, right?" she asked already knowing the answer but wanting to hear him admit it.

Anthony still couldn't look his mom in the eyes as he looked to the floor in shame or embarrassment; Santana wasn't quiet sure which.

"Anthony look at me" she said sternly as he slowly raised his head to look at his mom with glassy eyes.

"Just tell the truth" she pleaded

"Yeeesss…" he whined out as the tears started to fall and his little chin shook from the small sob.

"Hey" Santana said trying to get his attention "I know you know better than that. If you wanted a piece of cake all you had to do was ask me or Mommy and we would have got you one"

Anthony was still quietly shaking while trying to maintain eye contact with his mom.

"Why did you do that?" she asked

Anthony's lower lip was still sticking out as he tried to answer "I don't know…" he said whimpering "It just looked so good"

Santana was certainly familiar with the feeling of instant gratification so it was hard to come down on the boy too hard, but he needed to understand patience.

"Well…" she said thinking "I guess that means that you are going to have to wait a little longer now before I think about getting a pet duck." she said watching the boys head and shoulders slump "You gave Mommy your word that you were going to behave and not get in trouble… and here you are less than a day later lying and acting like you have no manors. There are consequence Anthony for your actions… you can't behave that way." she said finishing her lecture

"I'm sowry" he said sadly as Santana picked him up to stand on the chair to look in his eyes.

"I know you are…" she said sweetly "and I know you feel bad, but you have to stop lying. I'm gonna be less angry if you just admit what you did when you do something wrong"

Just then the screen door opened and in walked Sam probably headed to the restroom. Santana saw this as an opportunity to teach her son how to be a man knowing how much Anthony idealized Sam.

"Sam?" Santana questioned "When you do something wrong… do you admit that you were wrong?"

"Sure" he responded easily with a shrug of his shoulders

"See Anthony… that's what a man does. He takes responsibility for his actions" Santana said looking at her son again who was finally starting to calm down "You know… you're the man in our house… so you have to be honest and take responsibility for your actions like Uncle Sam does… that's what men do"

Anthony looked his mom in the eyes and said "I will…I promise" as he reached out to give Santana a hug.

They hugged for a moment before Anthony spoke "Mommy…" he said pulling back "I have to go to the bathroom?" Santana chuckled to herself at Anthony's quick transition

"Okay" she said putting him back on the ground and pointing to the bathroom "Its right over there. I'll be right here when you're done."

"Okay" he said walking to the restroom

Sam looked to Santana in awe "That was some speech…" he said raising his eyebrows "I'm not sure any guy can live up to that"

"Anthony can" she said confidently looking towards the bathroom door "He's a good boy… sometimes he just needs a little reminder"

"Don't we all" Sam said without question

Santana, Anthony and Sam came out of the house and realized the party was winding down. It was rare that the glee clubbers were all in the same place at the same time. They all said their goodbyes and talked about how great it was to see everyone despite the horrible circumstance that brought them all together this time.

Santana was giving Quinn and Finn hugs while Brittany was saying goodbye to Mike, Tina, and their daughter when Santana noticed Anthony and Abigail holding hands while they watched the grown ups say their goodbyes.

"Hey… look" she said nodding towards the toddlers "Anthony and Abigail Lopez Pierce… it has a nice ring to it"

"Don't start planning the wedding yet" Finn said quickly "My daughter isn't going to date until she is at least 30"

"Sure Frankindad… Sure" Santana said sarcastically as she started walking towards Brittany and Emily

"You ready to go" Santana asked as she placed her hand at small of Brittany's back

"Yeah… I guess" Brittany said sadly "Where's Anthony?" she said looking around

"Right there" Santana gestured with a big ear to ear grin

"O goodness…" Brittany giggled while looking at her son holding Abigail's hand "I can't imagine what he is going to be like as a teenager"

"Seriously" Santana responded with a laugh

"Alright Casanova its time to go" she said motioning towards Anthony

"Bye Abigail" he said sweetly as he dropped her hand as the little girl frowned with his departure. "Bye Uncle Puck and Uncle Sam" he said looking towards two of his favorite people while he walked up to Brittany to take her outstretched hand.

Once they reached the car and got the kids settled in their seats they both took one last look at the Hudson/Fabrery House and smiled at each other.

"Did you have fun" Santana asked

"Yeah…" Brittany said with a hint of sadness "I wish Artie had been here though"

Santana's shoulders momentary slumped in agreement "I know… I think we all did"

They both got in the car and buckled their seatbelts "It's crazy to think how far we have all come" Santana said taking Brittany's hand once settled in her seat noticing Brittany's far away look

Brittany looked to Santana as a small smile broke out on her face "and yet it's strangely the same as it was 15 years ago"

"I know what you mean" Santana said with a happy sigh as she started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

**The End **

**AN: Sorry for making Mike nark on Anthony, but I just couldn't resist the "I've never seen that guy before in my life" comment. :D**

**As far as this being the end of the story it just seemed like a really good place to finish (Although, it wasn't planned for it to end here). So what I'm thinking is to continue, but as a whole new story at a later date… I just love writing this family too much to count out the possibility of continuing entirely. What do you guys and dolls think? Suggestion very much wanted and appreciated! I will write an epilogue at the very least to let everyone know what I decide. **

**Since this is basically more or less the end of the line for Becoming the Lopez Pierce Family :( look for future stories and a possible continuation from me because I have definitely been bitten by the bug and will continue to write Brittana stories cause it is just too fun not too. **

**Love you all, thank you so much for reading, alerting and reviewing you have made a first time writer feel very appreciated. Please review with your opinions on any continuations for this story!**

**Thanks!**


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